DSA recipient of ANGAT DAPAT

ENTREPRENEURIAL THRUST --- Residents of Barangay Madia in Datu Saudi Ampatuan attended a community assembly last April 2 organized by the Moropreneur Incorporated as part of the preparation in the implementation of ANGAT DAPAT program. (COURTESY OF THE MOROPRENEUR INCORPORATED – MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

DATU SAUDI AMPATUAN (DSA), Maguindanao --- The local government unit here is a recipient of a project called All-iNclusive Growth Activities towards Development and Poverty Alleviation (ANGAT DAPAT) implemented by a non-government organization, The Moropreneur Incorporated (TMI).

Anchored on its principle of creating an innovative and evidence-based sustainable livelihood program, the TMI conducted a baseline study of families in Datu Saudi Ampatuan from March 22 to April 2.

Jonathan Gorre, Program Director of TMI, said the output of the study form part of a comprehensive report on the socio-economic profile of the target municipalities and specific barangays which will be used in designing the entrepreneurial and skills-based trainings for the selected beneficiaries of the ANGAT DAPAT program.

“For Datu Saudi Ampatuan, we have selected Madia and Elian as pilot areas and checked on at least 348 families,” said Gorre.

Selahuddin Yu Hashim, TMI’s founding chair and executive director, related that “documented and reliable information or data sources are often limited in conflict-affected areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”

“The baseline study, therefore, is critical to enhance the quality of information needed to effectively design the series of capacity-building activities and the establishment of community-based micro-enterprise component of the project,” said Hashim.

The study methodology includes a review of secondary data, key informant interview, and family survey.

To ensure the quality, accuracy, and fast collection of data, Maisalam K. Tahir, TMI’s Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation officer, spearheaded the use of the KoBoCollect app in conducting the survey. This app is based on the OpenDataKit and is used for primary data collection in humanitarian emergencies and other challenging field environments.

Gorre said that at the local level, key officials of Datu Saudi Ampatuan were interviewed and the secondary data have been reviewed. The TMI made an assessment of the socio-economic conditions of five municipalities and the distinct conditions of respective barangays. Key commodities were identified and assessed to determine potential products to be developed as part of the establishment of micro-enterprises.

The families surveyed were asked to answer questions based on the five sections, such as: demography; social welfare community participation; income and livelihood activities; and skills.

“The result of the Baseline Study will be published and presented to the public,” said Gorre.

BaiAnida U. Dimaukom, municipal mayor of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, lauded the efforts of the TMI for choosing the town as one of the pilot areas of its ANGAT DAPAT program.

“This will surely boost the entrepreneurial potentials of our local residents,” said Mayor Dimaukom.

ANGAT DAPAT project is a sustainable livelihood initiative focusing on developing micro-enterprise in five municipalities of Maguindanao province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It aims to provide opportunities to at least 900 women, persons with disabilities, and youths to get engaged in agri-business based on climate resilient agriculture and by producing high-value products out of resources available. The project is being implemented in partnership with the Islamic Relief Worldwide – Philippines and supported by the IRW-Australia.

This social enterprise initiative is seen to contribute to the ARMM and Maguindanao government’s plan of reducing poverty incidence to 30 percent by 2019. Based on the recent Family Income Expenditure Survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the poverty incidence among households in the ARMM region is still the highest in the country with an incidence rate of 53.4 percent during the first semester of 2015. This means that one out of two families in the ARMM has an income lower than the poverty threshold or the minimum income to meet the basic food and non-food necessities.

Aside from Datu Saudi Ampatuan, families were also interviewed in the towns Datu Odin Sinsuat, Sultan Kudarat, DatuPiang, and South Upi. Selection of barangays from these towns are based on the criteria agreed both by the TMI and the local government units.(GILMHAR A. LAO & ANNE ACOSTA– MINDANAO EXPOSE’)