The Northern Samar provincial government has cited the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program for reducing poverty incidence in the past six years.

Governor Edwin Ongchuan said on Friday SAAD has benefitted poor rural communities in the province since its implementation in 2016.

“True to the meaning of the word, SAAD, which in our dialect means promise, the program has significantly contributed to increased productivity among our farmer-beneficiaries, and helped reduce poverty incidence in the province,” Ongchuan said in a statement.

Northern Samar’s poverty incidence dropped to 19.3 percent in 2021 from 53.8 percent in 2015 and 30 percent in 2018.

The DA program has poured PHP75.46 million into Northern Samar province in the past three years.

SAAD interventions across the province include egg layer production, goat, duck, swine, native chicken, calamansi, ube, and jackfruit production, and fishery support among others.

Northern Samar is among the selected 30 provinces in the country to benefit from SAAD initially implemented in the province in 2016.

While its first phase will end in 2022, the program will continue for its second phase under the administration of President and concurrent Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

SAAD started with PHP50 million downloaded funds last 2016 contributing to the total volume of rice production of 4,072.77 metric tons in the past five years.

Implemented by the national government through the Department of Agriculture regional office, with human resource support from the provincial government, SAAD program has organized farmers and fisherfolks in different towns in the province into 25 associations. (PNA)