DILIMAN, Quezon City—To improve its initiatives to capacitate planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME) officers and continuously contribute to the development of policy-related decisions, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) conducted the 1st Knowledge Sharing on ATI-Funded Agriculture and Fisheries Extension (AFE) Related Policy Studies.

About 90 participants attended the event. Most of them were Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Network focal persons from various national government agencies, extension directors from state universities and colleges, provincial agriculturists from local government units, personnel from the ATI regional training centers (RTCs), and representatives from the Department of Agrarian Reform and Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

During the event, six ATI-funded AFE-related policy studies on its various programs and projects were presented by speakers from different institutions, universities, and colleges. Participants were then given a chance to ask questions, give comments and critique the presented studies.

A panel of experts was also present to assess the speakers and their presentations. They were Dr. Andrew Gasmen and Dr. Aileen Lapitan from the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

During the closing ceremony, Andrea May Malonzo of the Central Luzon State University was awarded as best presenter for the national level for her paper entitled “The Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute Youth in Agriculture and Fisheries Program Scholarship: An Evaluation.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Christina Gabrillo of the Visayas State University got the best presenter award for the regional and provincial level for her study on the ATI-RTC VIII School On-the-Air on Organic Agriculture in Leyte and Southern Leyte.

The participants expressed their appreciation for the first knowledge sharing activity. Nivea Louwa Sermona from the University of Science and Technology of the Southern Philippines, Mindanao remarked, “The studies presented are very interesting. This is a successful knowledge sharing. Truly, I acquired new information, new experience, and new friends. Thank you for this opportunity for us to enrich our knowledge in AFE policy-related studies.”

Likewise, ATI Deputy Director Alfredo Aton encouraged the participants to "use and share the knowledge that you gained from this sharing to uplift the lives of our clientele.”

This event was spearheaded by the ATI Policy and Planning Division last March 22, 2018 at the ATI Mess Hall in this city.