Stakeholders of ISARD pilot project in Oriental Mindoro prioritize interventions to rehabilitate calamansi industry

  • 5 April 2016

NAUJAN, ORIENTAL MINDORO, Philippines – More than 30 farmers and institutional stakeholders of the Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (ISARD) project on revitalizing the calamansi industry in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro joined the Participatory Rural Appraisal and Action Planning (PRAAP) Workshop on 4-7 April 2016 at the Agricultural Training Institute Regional Center Session Hall.

The PRAAP workshop is jointly organized by SEARCA, the Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology (MinSCAT), and the Local Government Unit of Victoria, Oriental Mindoro. This is part of the ISARD pilot project titled “Revitalizing the Calamansi Industry in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro through Strengthening Linkages among Farmers, Local Government Unit, National Government Agencies, State Universities and Colleges, Civil Society Organizations, and the Private Sector”.

Dr. Miriam Nguyen and Dr. Evangeline Sulabo from the College of Public Affairs and Development, University of the Philippines, Los Baňos serve as resource persons of the PRAAP. This 4-day event aims to characterize calamansi growers in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro; and determine their current production and marketing practices; and the major challenges and opportunities they face. The workshop also hopes to help growers prioritize strategies, through an action plan, in improving their yield and eventually, their income.

Spearheaded by SEARCA’s Research and Development Department, the PRAAP workshop also provides participants with essential knowledge on data organization and analysis, project monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder analysis, problem analysis, and identification and prioritization of interventions. It involves the preparation of project logical framework and action planning. A baseline survey will also take place through focus group discussions. (Angelic M. Reglos)