Agriculture and education department officials in Ilocos Norte signed on Friday a memorandum of understanding to sustain the school-based feeding program while patronizing products produced by agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).

Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) program officer Vic Ines said the Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty project offers two-fold benefits by linking consumers and producers, while learners are provided with nutritious food and the farmers have steady market for their produce.

“The partnership is meant to mitigate hunger and poverty while promoting the products of ARBs,” Ines said
after the signing ceremony at the Schools Division of Ilocos Norte this city.

Over the years, DAR has assisted ARBs with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry and the provincial government of Ilocos Norte.

Among the products that are now available in the market are the rice coffee of the Bagnos Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MPC); rice crispies, milky bun and fresh milk of the Camguidan MPC; and sugarcane vinegar of the Malampa MPC.

Under the agreement, the MPCs will continuously supply fresh milk and nutritious food products to DepEd (Department of Education) as food requirements for their supplemental feeding program,” Ines said.

“In this strategic partnership, the ARBs shall get a better return on their investments while the feeding program beneficiaries will have access to quality food products,” DepEd-Schools Division Superintendent Donato Balderas Jr. said in a statement. (PNA)