The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) led the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the Expanded Gatasang Kalabaw Convergence Project to support the “zero hunger” program of the government.
The MOA was signed with the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) at the PCC National Headquarters and Gene Pool in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.
The agreement aims to contribute to the achievement of the goals of the government’s Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) and Zero Hunger Program, and the achievement of the 10-point socio-economic agenda and development goals.
Through the Expanded Gatasang Kalabaw Convergence Project, the DSWD, through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) and EPAHP Program, and partner agencies have agreed to provide capacity-building and agriculture-related livelihood interventions to qualified participants of the program to improve their socio-economic conditions.
Meanwhile, DSWD and DTI also confirmed their partnership by signing the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) on Economic Integration, Business Initiatives, and Gainful Access to Networks (KAIBIGAN) Convergence Project.
The KAIBIGAN Convergence Project aims to help qualified program participants, especially victims of disasters, including fire incidents in establishing, growing, or restoring their microenterprises through the complementation of various programs and economic services of DSWD and DTI.
The MOA and JMC signing ceremonies were witnessed by the Nampicuan Dairy Farmer SLP Association—the identified beneficiaries of SLP and EPAHP by the DSWD Field Office (FO) III.
Also present at the ceremonial signing were DSWD Luzon Affairs Assistant Secretary Marites Maristela; DSWD-FO III Assistant Regional Director for Operations Venus Rebeldela; SLP Operations Division Chief Luis Daniel De La Cruz; Nampicuan Municipal Mayor Victor M. Badar; DTI Senior Trade Industry Specialist Marilou Santos; and POPCOM Policy Development and Database Management Division Chief Aileen Serrano.