The Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council (PAFC) of Aklan conducted a series of training sessions on meeting facilitation and financial literacy to empower the indigenous people (IP) and Municipal AFCs (MAFCs) in Lezo and Kalibo in the third quarter of 2024.

The series of training sessions was the result of the recommendations gathered during the exit conference of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) and PAFC Aklan’s participatory monitoring and tracking (PMT) activity in the province on March 11 to 15, 2024. 

PMT is a systematic process that empowers communities as important stakeholders in monitoring and tracking government programs and projects. PCAF, through its PMT, validates completed Department of Agriculture’s (DA) programs and projects and confirms and gives credence to the Department’s accomplishments report.

In the PMT report, PAFC Aklan recommended the conduct of  training to empower MAFCs and the member associations, cooperatives, farmers, and fishers, and other agri-fishery related civil society organizations (CSOs) in the province. 

Accredited CSOs become implementing partners or beneficiaries of the DA programs and projects.

 

The training aims to improve decision-making abilities and strengthen financial management practices of the groups to properly manage and sustain operations of  the awarded DA-funded programs or projects.

Aklan PAFC Chairperson Arnulfo Magcope and PAFC Coordinator Vic Mae Laurdaus served as the resource persons during the entire training period.

As a result, PAFC Aklan provided training on the introduction, legal bases, concepts, importance, functions, and roles of the AFCs, as well as the revised PCAF Guidelines on the Engagement of Consultative Bodies. Aside from meeting facilitation and financial literacy, officers and members of MAFC Lezo and Kalibo were also guided in preparing policy resolutions.

 

For the Laserna Consumers Cooperative (LCC), the provincial Council organized an orientation on the accreditation process of the DA CSO. Forty IP officers and members of the LCC took part in the orientation on August 9.

 

“PAFC Aklan appreciates and gives importance to the IPs of the province. Aside from the CSO orientation, the Council also provided training on the ‘Koop Kapatid’ program. To sustain whatever they have learned, we provided training on financial literacy,” said PAFC Chairperson Magcope.

 

Likewise, PAFC Aklan conducted the training with 30 officers and members of MAFC Lezo on September 3. Meanwhile, 60 officers and members from MAFC Kalibo benefited from the same training program on September 5.

 

PAFC Aklan noted that by equipping MAFCs with these essential skills, the private-sector partners in the Councils can contribute to the overall development and sustainability of the agriculture and fishery sector in the province. | Jezebel Campaniel with report and photos from PAFC Aklan Vic Mae Laurdaus

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October is the National Indigenous Peoples’ Month in the Philippines. The observance aims to support and raise awareness of indigenous cultural communities in the country.