SUPPORT TO FARMERS. Some 40 farmers from former conflict-affected Barangay Consorcia in Las Nieves town, Agusan del Norte province, undergo a three-day community-based training and enterprise development that started on Feb. 21, 2023. The village is recently declared an insurgency-free area in Las Nieves. (Photo courtesy of 23IB) BUTUAN CITY - Forty farmers who are members of the Talcon Farmer's Poverty Association (TFPA) and the Consorcia Philippine Coconut Association in Las Nieves town, Agusan del Norte province have undergone a three-day skills training for added business opportunities. In a statement Thursday, the Army's 23rd Infantry Battalion (IB) said the skills training, dubbed as Community-Based Training and Enterprise Development (CBTED), is for villages formerly affected by encounters between government forces and communist rebels. The 23IB said the CBTED, which started Tuesday in Barangay Consorcia, aims to strengthen the livelihood activities of the members of the two farmers' associations while providing them the means to start with coco peat and coco coir production. "The 23IB is intensifying its efforts in assisting and monitoring the livelihood programs of people's organizations to ensure their sustainability and progress," the Army unit said. The initiated was facilitated by the Las Nieves local government unit (LGU) with the support of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Trade and Industry. In a separate statement on Thursday, the Las Nieves LGU said Barangay Consorcia was among the villages in the town severely affected by armed conflicts in the past due to the presence of the communist New People's Army. "Barangay Consorcia was declared insurgency-free two years ago due to the efforts of the 23IB, the local government, and the support of the other government agencies," the LGU said. It added that the TFPA was among the seven farmers' groups in the town identified to receive government support based on the assessment of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. "The CBTED on coco peat and coco coir production is the exact training for the 40 farmers whose livelihood depends on coconuts which are abundant in Barangay Consorcia," the LGU said. Under the CBTED, the participants are trained to produce high-value goods made from the by-products of coconuts. (PNA) }