The CTU-Barili Campus, through its extension services office, established community linkage with Sibonga Multipurpose Cooperative (SMPC) as the beneficiary of its extension program framework, #RACE – Re-shaping Agriculture Communities through Extension. The Program officially launched its various extension activities on July 14, 2023.
The #RACE program comprised 11 extension projects that addressed the needs identified by its partner cooperative, the SMPC. Specifically, the projects dealt with sustainable crop and animal production, food product development, marketing management, waste utilization to biogas or compost, and values formation that centered on the appreciation of agriculture by the youth. To showcase the extension program’s outcome, it aims to establish a demo farm to display developed technologies and success stories.
Through a series of focus-group discussions, the linkage between CTU Barili and SMPC was ascertained to be relevant to the community. The MOA signing on June 23, 2023, signified its commitment and partnership in undertaking extension programs that address the community’s needs.
The #RACE program is a testament to CTU Barili’s continued effort to foster community engagement. It results from a collaborative effort of faculty members from different colleges. It was developed during the community extension projects proposals writeshop conducted in early January this year by the Extension Services Offices.
Words by Ivy Dematawaran