Japan turns over farming equipment to ARMM gov’t

COTABATO CITY — The Japanese government donated farming equipment to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) this week as part of a development package to empower the region’s peasant communities and complement the Southern Mindanao peace process.

The donation, consisting of six multi-cab vehicles, a pick-up truck and six tractors with trailers, was turned over to ARMM Agriculture Secretary Hadji Sajid Druz Ali, by Shozo Matsuura of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Leocadio Sebastian of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

The equipment will be used in a joint program of JICA, PhilRice and the ARMM’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, aimed at improving the productivity of farmers in impoverished Moro-dominated areas in the autonomous region.

Matsuura said JICA is keen on helping foster lasting peace and sustainable development in many areas through better livelihood opportunities for marginalized sectors.

"We ought to thank JICA and the Japanese government, in general, for their continuing support for efforts to improve the lives of the people in the ARMM," Druz Ali said.

Druz Ali said ARMM Gov. Datu Zady Ampatuan has been focusing on linkages with foreign donors to expand existing socio-economic programs in the region’s poor and hostile areas and thus, boost the government’s peace initiatives.

The ARMM covers the geographically fragmented Marawi City, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in Central Mindanao, and the island-provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

"JICA is one of the international donors seriously helping develop the ARMM into a peaceful and progressive region," Druz Ali said.

JICA has poured in more than P300 million worth of grants for socio-economic projects in Mindanao in the past three years.

Witnessing the turnover of the farming equipment were Keise Usman, regional fisheries chief and concurrent director of JICA projects in the region; Daud Lagasi, of the regional agricultural planning service, and representatives of the farming sectors in the different ARMM provinces. — John Unson