Building bridges: the quest to attain food sufficiency and peace in the Autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao [Philippines]

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is the poorest region in the Philippines. According to the National Statistics Coordinating Board (NSCB) more than 69 percent of the families are poor. Its agriculture is characterized not only by low productivity but also by a high dependence on subsistence-level farming. Their poor condition is further aggravated by unpredictable peace and order in the region. The rice-based farming systems training and support program for ARMM was conceptualized by Philrice in 2003 in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries-ARMM (DAF-ARMM), University of Southern Mindanao (USM), Mindanao State University (MSU)- Marawi City and the Local Government Units (LGUs) of ARMM. The partnership aimed at pooling resources to effectively deliver services and develop mechanisms and strategies to sustain gains in rural development. The project aimed to improve the living standards of farmers by enhancing their rice-based farming practices thereby increase productivity and income of farming communities and ultimately attain food sufficiency/security. The project has five component activities, namely: 1)training of agricultural technicians (ATs), 2) conduct of Madrasah sa Basak (Farmers Field school-FFS), 3) technology farm demonstrations(Palayamanan), 4) establishment and maintenance of nurseries, and 5) information campaign/ advocacy. From 2003 to present, a total of 272 agricultural technologists were trained on rice-based farming systems technologies aimed to capacitate their knowledge and skills in rice-based farming systems and extension capability. To date, there are 70% trained ATs serving as facilitators in 90 FFS/Madrasah sa Basak sites with an average of 30 farmer-participants per site. Moreover, 22 palayamanan model farms, and 3 nursery farms in five provinces were established which serve as source of planting materials in the community. The detailed impact of the project to the farmers and agricultural technologists, project framework and strategies in the implementation were illustrated and described.