Settling in the one of the highland barangays of Tabuelan, a new beacon of hope emerges in Brgy. Kanlim-ao, taking the lead as the vegetable basket of the municipality and providing a secured farm-to-table food among the household.

The Kanlim-ao Small Farmers Association had high hopes of engaging in agriculture as part of their lives and are firm in promoting agricultural development and sustainability.

The association was born following the Yolanda’s devastation, hence the start of the new beginnings, looking for that silver lining rather than dwelling on tragedy and poverty. Agriculture paved the way for a more sustainable future and progressive community, which was far from what they have previously experienced.

The Department of Agriculture-Central Visayas through High-Value Crops Development Program (DA-HVCDP), the association received a one-unit multi-cultivator last October 2023. Aside, they also received a corn mill, and corn sheller machine funded under the DA-Corn Program, in the same year.

Since their operation in 2014, they have also received intervention from DA7 such as high-value crop seeds, and fertilizers.

Joel Aligato, the association’s president, expressed his joy with the overflowing support of DA7 as well as the counterparts from the LGU. They were grateful for the interventions that poured for their associations, as their dreams and visions are coming into reality.

The machineries and agricultural inputs were living testament of their hard work, dedication, and humility, allowing them to rise from what they are today from a mere nobody of yesterday, to something worth sharing for the world to be proud of.

From one intervention to another, this created a domino effect to strive for more and prove to the public that they were worthy of being acknowledged as the vegetable basket in the municipality despite their geographic location.

In this ever-changing world, only agriculture remains constant and remains the backbone of the economy, having provided the world with the first basic need for survival, food.