Members of the Esperanza Farmers Marketing Cooperative (EFMC) expressed gratitude to the Department of Agrarian Reform in Surigao del Sur (DAR-SDS) for assisting them in securing a marketing agreement with the Carmen local government unit (LGU) in the area.

“The agreement was signed on June 14, and we are assured of marketing our rice products to the employees of the Carmen LGU,” said Crispin Dales, the manager of EFMC, in an interview on Monday.

The agreement, signed by Carmen Mayor Jane Plaza and EFMC chairperson Rubencio Pame, forms part of the Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (PAHP) program being implemented by DAR-SDS.

“We will supply rice, depending on the number of sacks needed per week, for the local government employees,” Dales said.

He noted that the marketing agreement would ensure a market for the cooperative’s rice trading business and benefit the group’s more than 60 farmer members.

“We have been into rice trading for years, providing rice supplies to markets in different towns in Surigao del Sur. With the agreement under PAHP, we can expand our market and ensure good income for the cooperative,” Dales said.

The cooperative, which the DAR-SDS has supported for the last three years, has also received various government programs, particularly from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

In 2022, the group received a mechanical dryer and a rice mill through the government’s farm mechanization program.

In a separate interview on Monday, Yolanda Diaz, the municipal agrarian reform officer, said that the EFMC would receive a PHP300,000 project package on June 19 to boost farm productivity and marketing operations.

“We shall turn over to them one unit of three-wheeled chariot vehicle, which will help them transport their rice products to market and rice fertilizers for their members,” she said.

Aside from PAHP, the EFMC was also a beneficiary of DAR’s Climate Resilient and Farm Productivity Support Program when the group received farm machinery and equipment last year. (PNA)