BANGSAMORO TASK FORCE ON FOOD SUFFICIENCY, HELD ITS 1st REGULAR MEETING
COTABATO CITY | March 1, 2021
Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Agrarian Reform Minister Dr. Mohammad S. Yacob as the Chairperson of the Bangsamoro Food Sufficiency Task Force (BFSTF) together with Bangsamoro Planning Development Authority of the BARMM Region headed by Director General Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali as Vice-chairperson spearheads the 1st Regular meeting on March 1, 2021, at MAFAR Conference Hall, BGC, Cotabato City.
The meeting was attended by other ministries from the BARMM Region as members of the task force including MENRE, MTIT, MOLE, MOST, MFBM, MBHTE, MOH, MILG, MSSD, TMS-OCM, and other leading ministry and partner line agencies.
Minister Yacob said that the meeting aims to ensure that the Bangsamoro community has enough supply of food and meals to prepare in their respective home.
The Chairperson states that providing a sustainable and available food supply for every Bangsamoro is the main objective of their created task force amid the presence of the Pandemic. With the main objective, Minister Yacob encourages everyone to work together for the betterment of the Bangsamoro community.
Also, Vice-Chair Engr. Ali reminded each member to enhance assistance among farmers not only the food sufficiency but also training which enhances their capability and skills that will serve them as guidance for their additional production.
He said that the assistance must be distributed equally to ensure that all the needy Bangsamoro will receive programs from the Bangsamoro government.
The meeting anchors with the discussion of the following target agenda that includes Presentation of the Milestones of Food Security Convergence Model from July 2020 to February 2021; Commitment of other ministries and agencies for additional programs, projects, and activities to be enrolled for the convergence; Presentation of the Terms of Reference (TOR) regarding the conduct of research study on the capacity and potentials of the BARMM in rice production; Updates on the School Feeding program in connection with the buying of local products such as rice, vegetables and other nutritious food product in the BARMM; Organization of the Technical Working Group (TWG) for the conduct of Research Study, Roadmap and Policy Analysis needed for the convergence and the MAFAR updates on the pipeline activities for 2021 on the establishment of buying stations in the BARMM areas.
The committee agreed that the submission of the scaling of the convergence programs and propose MOA with other members will be in the second week of this month. The group also discuss their next schedule of meeting to be conducted.