The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon Cluster led a coordination meeting with DA-PRDP Regional Project Coordination Offices (RPCOs) CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, and Bicol to discuss the status and possible areas for improvement of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and knowledge management activities being done to support the Project’s implementation. This was attended by representatives from the M&E and Information, Advocacy, Communication, and Education (InfoACE) units of the regional offices and theNational Project Coordination Office (NPCO).

DA-PRDP RPCO CALABARZON M&E Unit representatives MJ Gonzaga and Gideon Hernandez highlighted some of the experiences and good practices they documented in the Rapid Appraisal of Emerging Benefits assessment of the seaweeds production and marketing enterprise in Calatagan, Batangas and the value chain assessment on coffee in Cavite and Batangas. Some of these are the RPCO CALABARZON’s hands-on collaboration with the DA Regional Field Office IV-A, the creation of knowledge management products such as key lessons brief and lessons learned, and the development of IEC materials to communicate the results of the RAEB to a wider audience. 

DA-PRDP NPCO M&E Unit representative Arvin San Juan encouraged the other regional offices to replicate the good practices reported by RPCO CALABARZON. According to him, emulating these practices will not only help in improving the implementation of the DA-PRDP, but also in mainstreaming its tools, systems, and advocacies to national government agencies, local government units, academe, proponent groups, and other stakeholders in the agriculture and fisheries sector. 

He also encouraged the InfoACE units to further document and produce more materials on the subprojects’ impacts on the beneficiaries to be able to provide a more profound picture of how the DA-PRDP is contributing to rural development in the country.

“Let’s make sure to always do our work with a purpose para maka-contribute tayo sa implementation at makatupad sa core functions ng ating Project which are to expand opportunities and to enable communities. I-focus natin ang ating paningin kung paano tayo makaka-contribute to each project development objective,” San Juan shared.

Also discussed in the meeting werethe issues and concerns being encountered by the regional offices, DA-PRDP knowledge management frameworks, and priority knowledge management practices and materials, among others. All participants committed to do their part to resolve the issues identified and follow through with the agreements made in the meeting.