The Philippines is endowed with bountiful resources. Its rich soil naturally grows tropical trees and plants. Our country even boasts of many natural rainforests and rich biodiversity. However, being situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire and near the typhoon belt, Philippines is prone to calamities such as typhoons and earthquakes. According to a report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Center (NDRRMC), the country is visited by an average of 20 typhoons per year. Not to mention that these typhoons almost alternately wreak havoc on calamity-prone areas such as the Bicol region, Visayas and the CARAGA region. These storms factor in some setback on our otherwise productive agriculture sector.
Nonetheless, the Philippine government is not blind on the sad plight of our farmers and agriculturist. In fact, the Department of Agriculture (DA) which is the agency responsible for the country’s agricultural development, had been receiving a large chunk of the national budget for the past years. For 2017 alone, the Government appropriated P 45.22 B to the agricultural sector as reflected on the General Appropriations Act. In addition to this amount, the government also allotted special provisionary funds for various sectoral requirements such as Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) , Seed Fund, and Remedies Fund to support increased productivity of farmers and fisherfolks, comprehensive and attractive grant-in-aid program to the sectors involved in the agency, implementation of the national seed programs, implementation of remedies including safeguard measures among others.
Through these budget and various funds, the Department of Agriculture (DA) was able to launch certain programs that will further help this industry. One of these is the Survival and Recovery Assistance Program (SURE) of the department. This program is designed to help the disaster-prone and stricken areas of the country like Bicol, CARAGA, Carmen & Danao in Cebu and even Marawi. This program aims to: a) support the government’s goal of helping agricultural households in calamity-affected areas regain their capacity to earn a living; and b) provide immediate relief to small farmers and fisherfolks through loan and grant assistance.
To know more about the SURE program of the Department of Agriculture, you may visit their website or just click on this link: http://www.acpc.gov.ph/sure/