BUTUAN CITY, Agusan del Norte – Handwashing, personal hygiene, and meat processing. These are just some of the many learnings the Higaonon tribes from Buenavista, Agusan del Norte gained after attending the Seminar on Food Processing & Food Safety for the Indigenous People held last June 24-25, 2021 at the Balanghai Hotel & Convention Center in this city.

The fifteen Higaonons who attended the seminar underwent lessons on handwashing, food safety hazards, cross-contamination, personal hygiene, food processing techniques, and hands-on demonstration on food processing. As part of their requirement on meat processing, they were able to make three recipes namely Siomai, Skinless Longganisa, and Embutido.

Aside from the certificate of completion, all participants also received kitchen utensils from the Agricultural Training Institute – Regional Training Center 13 to serve as a starter kit should they wish to venture into the food business.

“Ang among ikasulti sa among training sa ATI kay maayo gyud kaayo. Dako kaayo among pasalamat sa mga resource persons ug agencies nga nagpakabana nga motabang kanamo. Isip usa ka tribo, dako na kaayo kini nga achievement namo. Ang among mga nakat-unan, makatabang nga makasugod kami ug gamay nga negosyo. Ug amo pud kining itudlo sa among mga kauban nga mga IPs aron sila usab makaantigo sa among naantiguhan,” (What we can say about our training in ATI is that it was very good. We are very thankful to our resource persons and agencies who are very mindful in helping us. As a tribal woman, this is already a huge achievement. Our learnings here will help us start a small business. And we will also share what we have learned to our tribespeople so that they will also know). said Maritha Muca, one of the Higaonon participants.