During the “Training on Communicating Project Outputs Workshop”, resource speakers trained farmers’ associations representatives from in Bago City and Kabankalan City, and Central Philippines State University (CPSU) personnel on journalism and development communication.
Organized by the Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) last July 18, 2024, the workshop was held at CPSU Main-Campus Research Development and Extension Center Conference Room.
The workshop was facilitated for capacitating local farmers and up-skilling the university personnel in creating quality communication materials for the promotion of the Food and Agriculture Organization-sponsored projects under the CPSU-SEARICE partnership.
“Basically, the idea here is to make everyone aware of the value of information because it empowers people and transforms communities. So, it’s very important for farmers to have a better understanding of communication, especially for those who are engaged not only in production but also in farm development,” said Prof. Allen V. Del Carmen, Workshop Resource Speaker.
The partnership has previously facilitated numerous workshops under the two-year “Engendering Access for Smallholder Farmers to Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture for Conservation and Sustainable Use” project.
The said project is targeted towards the empowerment of local farmers associations and the establishment of a gene bank accessible to grassroot farmers, the workshops are namely, Inception Workshop, Baseline Study Workshop, Agroecology for Sustainable Food Systems: Basic Training on Agro-Ecology for Youth Partners of SEARICE, and Biocultural Community Protocol Workshop.
Over the course of two years, CPSU and SEARICE commonly envision the realization of numerous activities under the said project, in cooperation with the partner farmers associations.
SEARICE and CPSU are expected to continue their baselining endeavors among partner farmers’ associations and will be conducting Farmers’ Field School projects in relation to the gene bank establishment initiative.