COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) currently participates in the ongoing three-day training on Food Basket Survey and Market Assessment Analysis facilitated by the World Food Programme (WFP) which started on Wednesday, November 18 until November 20, taking place at Sardonyx Plaza and Restaurant, Gov. Gutierrez Avenue, this city.
The training aims to determine the availability of basic food groups in the locality, map the local food sources and food supply chain, and collect basic information on the functionality of the market as to the availability and accessibility of the food commodities.
Mishael Argonza, WFP Head of Cotabato Sub-Office, said that the training is the immediate response of the WFP to the request of the Bangsamoro Director General Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali about the food security concerns of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“Nagpapasalamat ako kay Director General ng BPDA, na kung saan, siya mismo ang nag-organize nito. Siya mismo ang nagbigay ng ideya at nakipag-usap sa akin na kakailanganin ito para mabigyan ng pansin kung ano iyong food security concerns and issues challenges, as far as sustainable food system in the BARMM,” Argonza said.
Furthermore, this initiative will help in laying down the fundamental requirements for a sustainable food system in the region.
In a message relayed by BPDA’s Monitoring and Evaluation Division Chief Nomaire P. Mustapha, Engr. Mohajirin Ali was elated for WFP’s support in providing technical assistance that will strengthen the capacity of the BARMM’s core team on food basket survey and market assessment analysis in the region.
“Through this training on the use of WFP tools for food basket survey and market assessment analysis, I am confident that this will aid the BARMM government in better targeting, analysis programming and implementing projects and activities which include providing subsidies and enabling the adoption of policy reforms to prioritize locally produced food commodities for government’s institutional feeding such as school-based feeding program, supplemental feeding, and others,” a part of Ali’s message. Meanwhile, the activity was attended by the representatives of the BARMM’s core team which is composed of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism (MTIT), and the BPDA. (Lovella Lao-Lastimosa, IKMD, BPDA-BARMM)