DILIMAN, Quezon City – The heart of the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa” (BP2) program lies on the practice of going back to countryside farming to achieve equitable development.
Department of Agriculture (DA) BP2 Program Director Alicia Ilaga stressed this in one of the episodes of “Agri Asenso”, a teleradyo program of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in partnership with DZRH.
During the interview, the guest expert explained the concept of the program with hosts Antonieta Arceo of the ATI and Henry Uri of DZRH.
According to Ilaga, BP2 is being implemented by 21 national government agencies including the DA, under Executive Order No. 114, s. 2020, to ensure a whole-of-government approach to development in the rural areas.
Primarily, this seeks to address four key areas of socioeconomic progress, which include empowerment of local industries; food security and agricultural productivity; social welfare, health, and employment; as well as development of infrastructures.
“Hinihikayat natin ang mga nasa Maynila, sa Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, na bumalik na sa mga probinsiya para maihatid ang kaunlaran sa kanayunan at magkaroon ng balanseng pag-unlad sa ating bansa,” she stated.
[“Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao dwellers are encouraged to go back to their provinces to usher rural improvement and obtain a balanced regional development in the country.”]
The program director said that specifically under BP2, DA provides support on capacity-building, household food sufficiency and livelihood development, as well as climate-resilient collective enterprise development through the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative for Agriculture (AMIA) villages or Balik Probinsya villages.
The AMIA approach are communities of farmers, organized as a village, which serve as reintegration sites for BP2 beneficiaries.
Ilaga expressed, “Itong mga villages na ito ang sasalo sa mga [benepisyaryong] magbabalik sa mga probinsya na gusto ring bumalik sa agrikultura.”
[“These villages will serve as the permanent relocation sites of the beneficiaries who want to go back to agriculture.”]
Currently, there are 143 AMIA villages in 50 provinces. Fifty six AMIA villages have been assisted through BP2.
The guest expert mentioned that there are new AMIA villages that are being set up through the program, assuring that there are productive reintegration sites for metro residents going back to the provinces.
The application and verification processes, as well as the priority beneficiaries of the program were, likewise, discussed during the episode aired last August 6.
To know more about this, visit the ATI’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ATIinteractive/videos/3236942983287116 or through the DZRH Facebook page.
