FAO aid brings hope to farmers in Samar town

BASEY, Samar—Eighty-one-year-old Mardoquio Guti-ay could not contain his happiness after receiving a sack of certified seeds and another sack of fertilizer from Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday afternoon.

“This assistance is really a big help to us farmers hit by [Supertyphoon] ‘Yolanda.’ During the typhoon, all my palay, which was then ready for harvest, went underwater and [was] destroyed,” Guti-ay said during the turnover ceremony held inside a warehouse in Barangay (village) Canabay, 5 kilometers away from the town proper.

The old man was among the more than 3,000 farmers from this typhoon-hit town to receive the goods as part of the assistance extended by the FAO. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and Mayor Junji Igmedio Ponferrada attended the program.

Guti-ay, who owns 6 hectares of rice fields, told the Inquirer that he was supposed to harvest more than 120 cavans last December or January had Yolanda not destroyed his farm.

Da Silva said the FAO would not stop helping the farmers until they recover their losses. The United Nations agency has raised more than $30 million to help 44,000 farmers who suffered from the storm’s onslaught.

The Rome-based FAO is “fully committed” to support the national government’s effort to help the affected farmers, Da Silva said.

“We are not simply giving seeds to farmers to ensure their next crop. We are, at the same time, planting the seeds that will allow them to retake control of their lives, regain their livelihoods and build their resilience,” he said.

Municipal agriculture officer Ador Amascual said 3,320 farmers and 1,815 ha of rice fields in Basey were affected by Yolanda when it swept through Eastern Visayas last Nov. 8.