"Development must start at the grassroots," stressed SEARCA Director Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., "and our ally in reaching those communities are LGUs, through whom we are able to deliver and extend our program initiatives focused primarily on bringing about inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development (ISARD)."
He said "SEARCA is now increasingly invited to multisectoral meetings to see how we can input into their development plans, particularly on how they relate to agriculture."
The dialogue brought together chief local government executives of the cities and municipalities of Laguna.
Present at the forum were Laguna Governor Ramil L. Hernandez, as well as mayors and other officials of LGUs in Laguna.
Governor Hernandez expressed his support and endorsement of SEARCA's school and home gardens program to be spread throughout the province. This project was highlighted in Dr. Saguiguit's briefing to the Governor and several town mayors.
SEARCA's "Participatory Action Research on School- and Community-based Food and Nutrition Program for Literacy, Poverty Reduction, and Sustainable Development" was piloted in five elementary and one high school in six towns in Laguna. Carried out in partnership with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and the Department of Education (DepED) Division of Laguna, the project's key accomplishments focused on nutrition, education, and economic well-being.
Moreover, Governor Hernandez is keen to engage SEARCA in his farmers' education initiative. He suggested that SEARCA take the food and nutrition program a notch higher to the level of farmers through SEARCA's involvement in his provincial government's farmer field schools. (Leah Lyn D. Domingo)