The first batch of recipients of the Japanese-funded Productivity Enhancement Project Kennedy Round 2 or NEDA-KR2 project signed a Memorandum of Agreement with NEDA Regional Office VIII last month.

The first recipients were the local government of Capoocan for the project Seaweed and Oyster Culture; the Eastern Samar State University - Salcedo Campus for the project Eucheuma Production, Processing and Marketing; and the Leyte State University for the projects Probiotic White Cheese from Caramilk and Baybay Delights: LSU Developed Jackfruit Products in the Market.

Dr. Reynaldo Lombrio of ESSU and Dr. Paciencia Milan of LSU signed the MOA with NEDA VIII Director Buenaventura C. Go-Soco, Jr. on February 19, 2007 at NEDA Regional Office while Mayor Marietta Porciuncula of Capoocan signed the MOA with Director Go-Soco last February 20, 2007.

ESSU-Salcedo’s project will establish a common service facility for the processing of Eucheuma, a certain variety of seaweeds. The project will directly benefit poor farmers and fishers from coastal barangays of Salcedo through additional income to be gained from the processing activity. For those who are already involved in eucheuma raising, they will have a better bargaining power in selling dried eucheuma at the farm level due to the introduction of eucheuma processing and with the organization of farmers into cooperative. As of now, eucheuma middlemen buy dried eucheuma from individual farmers at a low price and on credit terms.

LSU’s vacuum dried jackfruit is expected to be a hit in the export market. Through LSU’s technology, a product of years of research, the sweetness, fragrance and color of fresh jackfruit is retained in the dried product. The project will encourage farmers to take care of their abandoned jackfruit trees to make them more productive. To date, hectares of jackfruit plantation in Leyte are at fruit-bearing stage.


At front: Capoocan Mayor Marietta Porciuncula and NEDA Director Buenaventura Go-Soco, Jr.

On the other hand, LSU’s White Cheese project will increase the productivity of the Baybay Dairy Farmers Association.

Capoocan’s seaweed and oyster culture will significantly increase the productivity and income of fisherfolks, thus, reduce poverty in the municipality. The project complements the Fish Sanctuary and Mangrove Reforestation projects implemented by LGU Capoocan, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

By: Rosabella Yu
KR2 Asst. Coordinator