The Institute of Fish Processing Technology (IFPT) of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS), as the leadinstitution, implemented the project, “Technology Transfer of Improved Dried Products from Low Value Fish Species” in collaboration with the five Provincial Institutes for Fisheries and Agriculture (PIAF): Aklan State University (ASU), Capiz State University (CapSU), Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF), Partido State University (ParSU) and University of Antique (UA). This project was funded by the Commission on Higher Education under the National Agriculture and Fisheries Education System program with the primary aim of establishing and supporting an integrated system of Agriculture and Fisheries education in the country. Thus, projects under the NAFES program provides avenue for institutional capability-building to sustain efforts in producing the required qualified manpower to advance national development.
The project was implemented from August 2018 to February 2020 to carry out the main objective of extending the Institute’s verified drying technology to the key persons in the five partner institutions who are also expected to transfer the technology to the beneficiaries in the grassroots level. Eventually these extension initiatives of delivering improved drying technologies into a much wider scope of stakeholders are envisaged to reduce poverty, promote food security and inclusive growth among fisherfolk communities in the region in the long run.
As its base framework, the project relies on the efficient function of the PIAFs in the dissemination of the improved drying technology specifically on good handling and food safety practices and in the upgrading of the quality, packaging and labelling to increase the market potential of the dried products. Assistance in marketing and distribution of the products were also provided to the target beneficiaries. The implementation of the project consisted of a series of meetings, hierarchy of training activities, construction of six drying facilities and organization of the selected fisherfolk groups as targe beneficiaries.
Project accomplishments include the following: (1) inception meetings, site visit and signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), (2) trainer’s training on post-harvest
technologies for improved dried fish products (3) seminar and orientation of target
beneficiaries with resource persons from Cooperative and Development Authority, (4) post-harvest handling training of fishers, (5) skills training and dried fish production training using the constructed drying facility; (6) actual production of dried fish with assistance on business management and marketing and (7) development of Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials that will be copyrighted in the Intellectual Property Office. A manuscript is also being prepared for possible publication in a scientific journal.
Overall, the project has achieved its target for UPV, as a National University and College of Agriculture and Fisheries (NUCAF), to forge collaboration with fisheries institutions within and in the neighboring region. We have capacitated the partner PIAFs by training the focal persons who are key to realizing impact magnification by reaching out to the target beneficiaries on the ground. Demographic data and baseline information in terms of livelihood and product quality were gathered before and after the intervention so that the actual effect of the extension efforts can be accounted for. Developed learning resources such as lecture notes and guidebook intended to be used by trainers and pamphlets for nontechnical trainees are project outputs that are useful not only to the present crop of beneficiaries but for other potential stakeholders in the future. The designed drying facility constructed in the five project sites has been proven to support the transferred drying technology in producing the improved dried fishery products with assurance of safety and quality. All of these accomplishments were made possible through the collective efforts of the IFPT personnel who acted as both resource persons and extension coordinators and most importantly, of the project leaders and support staff from our collaborators.