The improvement of Nonong Sr. – L. Pimentel farm-to-market road (FMR) subproject in San Luis, Aurora was completed on February 2020 with a total of 5.85 kilometers which traverses a large pact of land planted with coconut trees, rice, and vegetable farming. More than two years since, the DA-PRDP Central Luzon, led by the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, assessed its impact on the lives of the farmers and other locals through the conduct of the Rapid Appraisal of Emerging Benefits (RAEB).

DA-PRDP staff from Regional Project Coordination Office 3 and Project Support Office – North Luzon Cluster conducted household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews to establish evidences and gather testimonies from the beneficiaries, key players, and local officials. These are used to determine if the intended benefits are actually emerging or taking place.

Based on the initial results, travel time was reduced from 30 minutes to at least 10 minutes which is aligned to one of the subproject’s objectives to reduce travel time by at least 50%. Local officials shared that assistance for the two barangays during calamities can now be easily delivered in affected areas. Farmers also revealed that hauling cost was also reduced since more vehicles can now access the road.

“Ngayon mas maganda na dahil noong araw nga yong kaunting niyogan namin diyan, kinokopra lang dahil nga wala pa namang bumabiyahe dito katulad ng mga magbubukong iyan. Ngayon, buko pa lang, nagiging pera na namin. Kumbaga mas mabilis na ngayon ‘yong produkto dahil nakakapasok na ‘yong mga mangangalakal dito sa amin.”, said Edilberto Olivar Jr. from Brgy. Nonong Sr., one of the farmer beneficiaries of the FMR.

(The situation is better now because back then, we were only able to sell coir because coconut traders can’t travel to our area. Now, we can already make money from the coconuts. That’s because traders can now easily transport our products.)

RAEB is an evaluation tool of PRDP that focuses on assessing the success of a subproject and its alignment and relevance to the project’s development objectives. The result of this activity will serve as a feedback mechanism from the beneficiaries to the PRDP management on whether the desired outcomes of the project are likely or unlikely to be achieved.

The Governance and Geomapping Unit also conducted geotagging to document the current condition of the FMR and the beneficiaries while the Information, Advocacy, Communication, and Education Unit took spot interviews from other locals to record their testimonies and experiences from the FMR. (By: Ram Bautista, InfoACE RPCO 3)