Army expands wellness farms

From the Visayan Daily Star (May 23): Army expands wellness farms

The 303rd Infantry Brigade is expanding to three of the six districts of Negros Occidental its Negros First-Army Wellness Farm which aims to “win the peace” in the province, with almost all of its beneficiaries rebel returnees.

Col. Jon Aying, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, said the program is designed to ensure food security, generate basic income and sustainability, especially for former New People’s Army rebels and their families, who had abandoned the armed struggle to live a peaceful life.

The first Army Wellness Farm, that was implemented in the 2.5-hectare lot inside Camp Major Nelson Gerona in Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia, has been successful in producing organic products, like vegetables, livestock and poultry.

Aying said organic farming is one of their non-traditional innovations in addressing the insurgency problem in Negros Occidental, without using guns.

“We want to capacitate former rebels by teaching them organic farming and other means of livelihood to ensure sustainable sources of income when they re-integrate to the community,” Aying said.

Majority of the rebel returnees who are beneficiaries of the project surrendered to the 303rd Infantry Brigade in 2011 to 2012.

Members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit and regular members of the Philippine Army have also joined in the cultivation of the Wellness Farm in Murcia.

Aying said he is eyeing the satellite Wellness Farms in the 1st, 5th and 6th districts of the province also as “learning and livelihood centers”, with the support of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.

CAPACITY BUILDING

“The program recognizes economic capacity-building of the beneficiaries to become self-reliant and less vulnerable, with a projection towards their permanent settlement and production areas assured of protection from lawlessness and natural disasters,” he said.

Despite the high economic state of Negros Occidental, the latest survey by the National Economic and Development Authority revealed that it still belongs to the category of provinces with the lowest average family income in the rural areas, causing high poverty incidence in this side of the island, he said.

Citing the survey results, Aying said he also observed that low income in rural areas results in low literacy among children, as many of them are pulled out of school to work in sugar plantations.

This problem has resulted in inter-generational poverty and illiteracy. Food insecurity is inextricably linked with poverty as one of the major root causes of violence that leads to lawlessness and armed conflict, he added.

INSURGENCY STILL ACTIVE

While Negros Occidental remains one of the provinces where the communist insurgency is still active, Aying said the armed struggle has become an intergenerational practice in some families, and a way of life in a culture of violence.

As a response to this social predicament, the 303rd IB adopted the Wellness Program based on an integrated framework consistent with the peace and development concept of the Provincial Peace, Integration and Development Unit (Pro-PIDU).

The Pro-PIDU, a sub-committee of the Provincial Peace and Order Council of Negros Occidental, of which the 303rd IB is a member, is spearheading the campaign to address the root causes of insurgency in the province.

SYSTEMS APPROACH

It adopts a systems approach towards sustainable peace-building through the transformation of communities along the different dimensions of conflict – personal, relational, structural and cultural.

Aying said the Wellness Farming System operates through a network of farms and gardens designed for productivity to benefit the focus-targeted recipients.

Since the implementation of the project nine months ago, gross sales from vegetable farming, livestock and poultry raising have reached P300,000, Aying added.

The provincial government gave P1.5 million for the program in the preparation of land and development of facilities in Murcia.

Aying acknowledged the help of civil society organizations including the Kasanag and Alter Trade Foundation Inc. and offices of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2014/May/23/businessnews2.htm