BAGUIO CITY – The city legislative body approved a resolution authoring Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Cordillera Office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-CAR) for the establishment of the Baguio meat processing center as contained in a project proposal of the City Veterinary Office for shared service facility at no cost to the city government.
The resolution authored by Councilors Betty Lourdes Tabanda. Benny Bomogao and Fred Bagbagen stated that the increasing productivity of farmers is an essential aspect in helping them increase their revenue as most of them are focused only on learning how to improve livestock production as a key to successful meat production, access to new technologies and maintenance of long-term sustainability of the farm.
The resolution added the meat from their livestock may spoil rapidly if left untreated or unpreserved, thus, appropriate preservation techniques will help the livestock raisers extend the meat shelf life to more activities that can be done to add value to fresh agricultural and livestock to increase the income of the farmers and the producers.
Earlier, the DTI established the shared service facility (SSF) to address the gaps and bottlenecks in the value chain of priority industry clusters, provide an integrated package of services including enhanced market approaches relevant to the maturity of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the target markets, and develop priority and market-driven industries with the agency serving as the implementing agency.
Through the SSF project of the DTI, the resolution noted that the gaps and bottlenecks in the value chain, like the unavailability of processing equipment and skills requirement, will be sufficiently addressed.
The resolution stipulates the SSF aims to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the small farmers engaged in agri-business and that the project will be operated and managed by the cooperative while the support personnel will be provided by the city government who will eventually assist in the project implementation with a designated SSF focal person from the City Veterinary Office and the agriculture office to oversee the project implementation and provide continuous technical assistance in terms of efficient utilization of resources of the business, like labor and capital, at no cost to the city government.
One of the objective of the SSF program is to enable MSMEs to increase their productivity and accelerate their competitiveness by giving them access to energy-efficient technologies and modern equipment, through convergence with other government agencies and the private sector for the successful implementation of the program
The resolution underscored the need to establish a facility to enabled MSMEs in the city to come up with high-value products of superior quality, using the latest available product development technology and equipment to produce quality meat products that can be taken up to commercial production and that MSMEs will also need the assistance of personnel who are adept in the use and operation of state-of-the-art equipment.
The Baguio meat processing plant will be the primary facility to help add value to the meat products of city hog raisers that organized themselves into a cooperative.
By Dexter A. See
