The project entitled “Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines” (SARAI) conducted a sustainability workshop held at the Institute of Cooperatives and Bio-Enterprise Development (ICOPED), UPLB on January 29, 2019.

Representatives from University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) units, UP Diliman, partner State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soils and Water Management (DA-BSWM), and the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA) attended the event. The workshop aimed at enabling the participants to craft unique sustainability pathways for their SUCs. 

The workshop was able to come up with SUC-specific sustainability plan and identified existing and potential key players to sustain the program, which include enabling mechanisms and constraints to the envisioned sustainability pathway. The outputs also provided a concrete steps and commitment to carry out their sustainability plans for 2019-2021 and after the program duration.

Dr. William C. Medrano, the SARAI project leader at Isabela State University (ISU), presented one of the outputs of the sustainability workshop. The ISU team envisions that after 2021, SARAI will be institutionalized and expanded. After the initial funding of SARAI, ISU aims to continuously serve farmers, communities, and students; SARAI to be adopted as part of LGU programs with farmers; and ISU will have its own projects in relation to the program.  Other SUCs also shared the same vision for the sustainability of the program to support the agricultural sector.

SARAI Phase 2 is implemented by UPLB, in partnership with several SUCs in different regions of the country such as ISU, Bicol University (BU), Cebu Technological University (CTU), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Central Mindanao University (CMU), Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), Mindoro State College of Agriculture and Technology (MinSCAT), University of Southern Mindanao (USM), University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP), Western Philippines University (WP), and West Visayas State University (WVSU).