The 1st Regional KAANIB Partners Congress in CARAGA was conducted on September 17-18, 2019 in Gateway Hotel, Surigao City.

Attendees of PCA CARAGA’s 1st Regional KAANIB Partners Congress

The event was held to give recognition to the outstanding achievements of the region’s KAANIB partners, and to encourage and motivate other KAANIB Enterprise Development Project (KEDP) Coconut-Based Organizations (CBOs) to exert more efforts to attain sustainability of the project.

Background
KEDP was implemented as PCA’s strategic response towards alleviating poverty in small coconut farming communities. The 1st National KAANIB Partners Congress and KAANIB Achievers Award were conducted in 2017, simultaneous with the National Cocoweek Celebration that same year.

PCA CARAGA 2019 Regional KAANIB Achievers Awardees
This year 2019, PCA CARAGA has proclaimed 4 KEDP sites as regional winners, and as entrees to the national level for the following category: Coconut processing non-food (Sumo-sumo-Gamut CFO); Coconut processing-food (Wasian CFO); Farm Diversification (Barangay Coleto Coconut Farmers Association) and Livestock Integration (Noli-Sagmone Small Coconut Farmers Organization). Of the four entries, 3 KEDP sites were proclaimed as winners in the national level.

The event was participated 84 coconut farmers and farmer-leaders, and each province of the region showcased and was selling their coconut processed products from KEDP, such as tablea, coco vinegar, coir-based organic fertilizer, virgin coconut oil, coconut flour, and desiccated coconut.

Also present in the event were representatives from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), buko exporters, and consolidators of coir-based products.

Further, every KEDP-CBOs crafted their own action plans on how they will implement their respective projects.

By: PCA Region XIII-CARAGA