CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—About 43 members of the local Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program were chosen to be the beneficiaries of the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan, a sustainable program on agriculture launched here on August 28.
Kabalikat Sa Kabuhayan (KSK) is SM Foundation Inc.’s “social good” program focusing on sustainable agriculture. It aims “to uplift the lives of Filipinos in grassroots communities through sustainable agriculture, technology transfer, product development, and farm-market linkage through partnership with different agencies.”
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Pampanga will give free Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) for the beneficiaries to equip them with effective backyard planting and small-scale farming techniques for fruits and vegetables.
For 29 days, Talete King Panyulung Kapampangan, Inc. (TPKI), a microfinance non-government organization chaired by Reverend Father Eddie T. Panlilio, will be the training center of the beneficiaries.
SMFI will further assist farmers who form cooperatives by linking them to local markets and SM suppliers for a more stable source of income.
For his part, Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago expressed his gratitude and consistent desire to prioritize the food production in the city to ensure food security for Fernandinos.
“I am very grateful to the SMFI and to all other agencies who converged in this program to help improve the quality and quantity of the crops as well as provide food and livelihood for the families of our beneficiaries,” Santiago said.
As of this writing, the KSK program had already trained 23,170 Farmers and helped 2,925 barangay beneficiaries all around the country.