In a bid to reduce poverty and promote food security, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) – Palawan Irrigation Management Office (PIMO), through the Irrigators Association, launched the Gulayamanan Project in NARRA, Palawan together with the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPHAP).
EPAHP is a pioneer program under Executive Order 101 on Creating an Inter-agency Task Force on Zero Hunger rate in 2020, following the successful implementation of the Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (PAHP) in 2016.
According to NIA, the goal of EPAHP is to mitigate hunger, ensure food security and establish sustainable agriculture by 2030 through the help of the government’s supply and support services sectors.
11 out of 21 irrigators’ ssociations (IAs) of the Malatgao River Irrigation System (MRIS) in Narra have begun participating in the Gulayamanan project by planting vegetables, herbs and malunggay trees near the dam. NIA expects that more associations, including Batang-Batang RIS, are also expected to participate in this year’s EPAHP activity.
Sr. Institutional Development Officer Glenda Buenavista, on behalf of NIA Division Manager Conrado Cardenas Jr., said that PIMO will have its Provincial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by the first quarter of 2022.
NIA, in a press release, said its office will be working on the beneficial marketing agreements with partner agencies for food supply that allows IAs to coordinate directly with private and other agencies without the middlemen.
Gulayamanan project will not only contribute to attain food security within the province but will also subsidize nutritional security and dietary nutrition for health.
NIA ensures that continuous monitoring and maintenance of grown vegetables would be given to local farmers as continuous aid in order to preserve the virtue of feeding and helping people.