ATI Caraga, NGOs, media crafts communication, advocacy plan for farmers

By Johny S. Natad

BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 13 (PIA) -- The Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) Caraga, non-government organizations (NGOs) with farmers’ rural-based organizations (RBOs), and local media are formulating communication and advocacy plan for the Farmers Contact Center (FCC).

During the Consultation Workshop on Maximizing the Services of the FCC through the Development of a Communication and Advocacy Plan on August 12, Antonieta Arceo, the OIC Chief on Knowledge Products Management Division of ATI Central Office revealed that there is a need to develop a communication and advocacy plan for the FCC to amplify its services to client farmers and fisherfolk.

The FCC is the alternative delivery channel of Department of Agriculture (DA) in providing timely information and extension services to farmers and fisherfolk that include technical advisory on agriculture and fisheries technologies and agricultural marketing assistance.

Arceo bared that the FCC has generated an average of 764 queries per month or a total of 27,525 inquiries since its operational inception in 2010. However, only seven percent of these queries are related for agricultural technology, which the FCC is focusing about.

Seventy percent of the queries are related to e-learning concerns; 22% for program and services of the DA; and one percent for the marketing related concerns.

“With the status of FCC operations, we found out in our evaluation that there was a failure of maximizing the FCC services primarily because the client/stakeholders do not know the FCC roles and services and they do not avail of the services,” Arceo emphasized.

She added the lack of promotion and absence of communication plan for the FCC are some significant factors that were identified during the evaluation that need to be addressed.

“The support and participation of the different stakeholders coming from DA attached agencies, RBOs, NGOs, state universities and colleges, local media, TelCo, extension workers, and farmers in developing a communication and advocacy plan for the FCC are very essential to realize our aim to maximize the services of the FCC so that more farmers and extension workers will access information needs on farm and business advisory services to make farming profitable enterprise,” she said.(FEA/JSN/PIA-Caraga)