10 July 2023 | National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and Department of Agriculture (DA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP) in DA Central Office, Quezon City.
Representing NCIP were Chairperson Capuyan, Executive Director Mervyn Espadero, Commissioner Jennifer Sibug-Las, Commissioner Gaspar Cayat, and Bureau Directors; while in attendance for DA were Senior-Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban, Assistant Secretary for Operations and MIADP Transition Team Leader Engr. Arnel V. De Mesa.
MIADP is a six-year term project that will run from 2023 to 2028; it aims to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, resiliency, and access to markets and services of organized farmer and fisherfolk groups in selected ancestral domains and for selected value chains in Mindanao.
The MOA shall establish the overall terms and partnership of the DA and NCIP to ensure that the implementation of the MIADP in Mindanao Ancestral Domains (ADs) will prioritize the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) in view of the projects intended development impacts.
Usec. Panganiban gave a message of appreciation for the partnership with NCIP geared to address the lingering poverty among the indigenous peoples in Mindanao.
Likewise, in his message, NCIP Chairperson valued the partnership with DA and highlighted that ICCs/IPs are partners to economic development of the country.
To cap the activity, the MOA was signed by the NCIP Chairperson, Usec. Panganiban, and Engr. De Mesa; witnessed by Exec. Dir. Espadero.
NCIP also provided Project Epanaw Coffee Table Books (CTBs), 2022 Annual Accomplishment Report, and poster of 11 Building Blocks to DA and was received by Usec Panganiban.
