NEGROS ORIENTAL. - The Agricultural Training Institute – VII (ATI-7) in partnership with the Cooperative Development Authority – VII (CDA-7) recently concluded three (3) batches of Organizational Development Training to selected cooperatives in the province. The said training was simultaneously held on August 6-7, 2018 in the municipalities of Sta. Catalina and Dauin and in Dumaguete City on August 8-10, 2018.

The partnership of ATI and CDA in Region VII started when the Department of Agriculture (DA) and CDA entered into a memorandum of understanding last January 2017 to empower cooperativism among farmers and fishers.

ATI being the training arm of DA, was tasked to facilitate the conduct of said training to capacitate recipient cooperatives in manning their coops and understand the principles of cooperativism, this is also in line with the thrust of the government to increase food production and income.

A total of 59 officers, management staff and members coming from the Multi-Purpose Cooperatives (MPC) of Dauin Farmers Development MPC (DACOFADEMCO), Mangulod Farmers MPC (MAFARMPUCO) and Bacong Small Coconut Farmers MPC (BASCOFADCO) attended the Organizational Development Training.

The input includes the fundamentals of cooperative, governance and management. The pool of trainers were Gracia Nenita Banogon and Ramon Buenavista of CDA Negros Oriental, Victoriano Digal of CDA Bohol, Cipriana Mumar, CDA Regional Office, and Jeysel Roble of CDA Siquijor, while Doris Isabel J. Racho of ATI 7 acted as the facilitator/project officer with Jeffrey Awas as support staff. The activity involved lectures, workshops and submission of an action plan as basis of the coops’ proposed activity or course of action after the training.