KAUSWAGANN, Lanao del Norte. ATI-RTC 10 OIC Center Director Maria Lydia A. Echavez continues to forge commitment with the Mayor Rommel C. Arnado of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, this time together with currently Bangsa Moro Transition Authority Member of Parliament Honorable Abduhlla Goldiano “Bravo” Macapaar. The famous “Commander Bravo” is also the Western Mindanao Front Commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF.

The project, which is an extension of the “From Arms to Farms” Program will develop a community led by “Commander Bravo” into a fully sustainable community that can provide its own food for its own people. It is will be a program that will mark again another success of the “From Arms to Farms” Program, where rebel returnees and even active rebels will engage into agriculture and will be lifting farm implements instead of fire arms. The area is in Camp Bilal, Sitio Kora Kora, Barangay Tamparan, in the Municipality of Munai, Lanao del Norte.

As in the previous undertakings, the role of the ATI-RTC 10 is to capacitate the farmers through the conduct of the training programs. Mayor Arnado requested to train not only the community leaders but everyone in the community, even the children. “I want everyone, even the children who can be taught, to be trained and capacitated. This will instill in them the value of farming and producing their own food. I want to make the implementation as fast as possible and I want to see results as soon as possible”. With the present situation of the covid 19 pandemic however, the training will be conducted by batch of 25 participants, prioritizing farmer leaders first until everyone is capacitated.

The Local Government of Kauswagan through mayor Arnado and the local Municipal Agriculture Office will assist the farmers in the land preparation, technical capacitation and monitoring.
Although Camp Bilal is part of the Municipality of Munai headed by Mayor Racma D. Andamama, Commander Bravo also sought the help of Mayor Arnado, since the LGU of Kauswagan has the capacity to fully assist the farmers with its complete farming machineries such as the tractor and rotavator, that would hasten the development process of the farm.

Priority components of the project are upland rice production, vegetable production and livestock. Training programs will focus on season-long training on Upland Rice Production in Palayaman concept; that is with “penakbet” vegetable production and fish culture. It will only be on the basic needs of the people that they can produce within the community. The series of trainings will commence by July 2020.

On the other hand, it is the role of the community, through “Commander Bravo” to make the people available and work on their own, and to ensure the safety of all the stakeholders of the program.

Mayor Arnado also wants the program to be patterned after the BP2 or the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program of the government, where beneficiaries will be given full support, from housing, livelihood and employment, and health needs support among others, order to uplift their living condition. Like the BP2, all trajectories will be focused on the area. With the presence of a lake within the area, the group plans to develop it later into an irrigation for lowland rice production and upland vegetable production.

With the key leaders of the implementing agencies and the leader of the beneficiary community present, commitments were forged and locked. A visit to the area by the key implementers will be scheduled soonest possible time.