Fifty-six participants belonging to 30 Farmers Cooperative and Association (FCA) in the Cordillera Region identified as beneficiaries of the Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) underwent a two-day training for FCAs to be able to strengthen their organizational management capacity.
DA-CAR Regional Technical Director for Research and Regulation Atty. Jennilyn Dawayan explained the importance of relevant management and operations training that would enable FCAs to come up with a unified initiative that would improve their production and income through swine raising.
“What we need to do is to craft a common template of your manual of operations that you will be filling up so that we can identify the components so that hopefully, little by little, these processes on production, marketing, recording procurement, and accounting of your finances including the leadership of the association,” Dawayan said.
The INSPIRE Program is the recovery and repopulation program of the Department for the hog sector, directly responding to the needs of the industry, given the ASF problem. It also focuses on the role of the Local Government Units (LGUs) and various stakeholders of the industry such that the institutional arrangement in the implementation of its components involves DA through the Regional Field Offices and other implementing units of the National Livestock Program (NLP); LGUs and stakeholders, particularly the FCA’s.
On May 2021, the previous administration declared (Proclamation No. 1143) a “State of Calamity throughout the Philippines due to the African Swine Fever (ASF) Outbreak”, resulting in the DA’s allocation of P4.1 billion under GAA 2022 for the implementation of the INSPIRE Program.
Part of the objective of INSPIRE is to establish FCAs as one of the main suppliers of swine coming from swine production-related programs initiated by the DA.
“There are modalities wherein the government can acquire from you as suppliers. One of your marketing strategies may be based on your supply and demand mapping wherein there is a possibility for your expenses to be recouped in a shorter time given that you were provided with a financial intervention of P5.5 million per FCA, “the regional Technical Director stated.
Atty. Dawayan recommended to the FCAs to identify in their supply and demand mapping where they intend to supply or sell their pigs, such as level II slaughterhouses, and government offices such as hospitals, traders, or restaurants, that would entail the FCAs to look for these demands.
One specific purpose and objective of the code of Animal Husbandry Practices is for swine raisers under the said program to strengthen community participation in producing quality food products.
“We will have more sessions on the marketing side, and what we can do is invite possible buyers to discuss what their requirements are. The community has a lot of potential because it will be the community who will be supplying the government,” Dawayan added.
The INSPIRE program has four main components comprising calibrated repopulation, recovery of breeder base through the establishment of swine nucleus, multiplier, and production farms, the enhanced insurance program for small-holders or commercial farms, and credit or loan programs.
