PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OFFICE IN PAETE, LAGUNA Marc Sylvester P. Garcia and Elena M. Manaig

Marc Sylvester P. Garcia and Elena M. Manaig Laguna State Polytechnic University, Siniloan, Laguna, Philippines. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History Received: 10 July 2020 Final Accepted: 14 August 2020 Published: September 2020

A study on the Participation of Women in the Livelihood Programs of the Department of Agriculture Office in Paete, Laguna was conducted.
This aimed to answer the following problems; what are the different livelihood projects., what are the opportunities and benefits derived by the respondents for participating in the livelihood projects, and is there significant relationship between the livelihood projects and participation variables.This study was conducted using descriptive research and survey as method. The respondent in this study were thirty women participating in livelihood projects by snowball sampling. The data were described using mean, frequency and percentage. Findings of this study show that D.A. of Paete have different livelihood projects like FAITH (Food Always In The Home) garden, Animal Dispersal Projects, ADP (Agribusiness Development Project) Lanzones, Fingerlings Distribution, Vegetables seedling dispersal, Meat Processing Project and Pinakbet Project. The commodity focus on animal is swine and in crop raising, vegetables. Respondents are participating from production to marketing. Some of the benefits they get from participation are contributing to the improvement of barangay project (26.7%), having alternative source of foodand gaining experience in animal and crop raising. The respondents are visited by extension workers either monthly, twice or once a year. The primary hindrance to livelihood project is the financial problem, the respondents receive support on livelihood projects from barangay committee on agriculture and from the municipal agricultural officers.
Philippines, is known as an agricultural country; it has abundant natural resources that can be used for agriculture. Ironically there is shortage in the daily living like foods, shelter, education and others. This shortage is one of the reasons why the Department of Agriculture (D.A) renders different livelihood projects aimed at the following: In 2016, about 11.06 million persons were employed in agriculture. This comprised 27.0 percent of the country's total employment. (Philippine Statistic Office 2016). The division of labor between men and women remain poorly understood. This is because women play an extremely important role in agricultural development, they participate in different activities; they work in all aspect of cultivation, including planting, thinning, weeding, applying fertilizer and harvesting as well as post-harvest activities such as storage, handling, stocking, marketing and processing; and they are also involved in poultry and livestock production. The importance of what men can do is equal to what women can do. They grab any opportunity in order to sustain and fulfill their needs, Department of Agriculture has several livelihood projects, just like in other municipalities.
Paete, Laguna is an inland town of the province of Laguna: it has nine barangays all of which are suitable within población. Although the town of Paete is considered as industrial town, still by and large, on agricultural produce and supplies 38.14% of the area devoted to agriculture. The soil is suitable for fruits trees, rice, vegetables, root crops and coconut. Poultry, livestock rising and fishery also provide additional income.
Municipal Agriculture Office in Paete, Laguna, Philippines renders different livelihood projects from national to regional offices into local municipalities. Women have a very important role in the livelihood programs where they can obtain opportunities and benefits that could help them in their everyday life.
The purpose of this study is to determine the participation of women in the livelihood projects of the Municipality of Paete, Laguna

Materials And Method:-
This study was conducted using descriptive research and survey as method. The respondent in this study were thirty women participating in livelihood projects by snowball sampling. The data were gathered through interview using structured questions and supplemented with observation in the livelihood projects. The collected data were organized and presented with the use of statistical tables and graphical method. The data were described using mean, frequency and percentage

Results And Discussion:-
The study revealed that Department of Agriculture Office of Paete, Laguna, has different livelihood projects like 1. FAITH (Food Always in the Home) is a primary project of most barangays aimed at producing medicinal plants and vegetables that can be used to support their barangay and family needs 2. Animal Dispersal-dispersing of different animals like swine and poultry. 3. ADP Lanzones (Agribusines Development Project on Lanzones) is a project established to sustain the production of lanzones and to have the latest technology in better production and marketing of this product. 4. Fingerlings distribution-is a project for distribution of fingerlings of different species like tilapia, and carpa.
This project aims to sustain the demand of the consumer and to increase the income of fisherman. 5. Vegetables seedling dispersal-dispersing of seeds of different vegetables to provide extra income to all farmers. 6. Meat processing project-involes conducting different seminars on meat processing. This project aims to provide proper skills in meat processing and extra income to all the participants. 7. Pinakbet project-this project similar to vegetables seedling dispersal but it includes the supervision on production to marketing of their vegetables.
The opportunities in joining different livelihood projects shown that the respondents have the opportunities of helping their barangay projects, improving their skills, expanding their knowledge and earning extra income. The other beneficiaries are their "Kabarangays" their own families, the youth and neighbors.
It is revealed that 26.7 percent of the respondents' state that their purpose in participating the livelihood projects is to help their barangay programs followed by 20 percent who wants to improved their skills.
The result shows 40 percent or twelve respondents joined livelihood projects because it is open to all those interested, 27 percent said that no requirements needed because the projects are sponsored by the barangays.

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It was revealed that the most common activities of the respondents in animal raising are feeding, watering and cleaning the pen and only few of them are engaged in marketing. This result implies that the other members of the family also have participation in animal raising The distribution of respondents according to crops they produced. It was shown that 30 percent of the respondents are engaged in vegetables production followed by medicinal plants, ornamental and fruits. Watering and marketing are the activities most commonly done by the respondents both frequency of 17%. This result could imply that strenuous activities like land preparation, planting and weeding are most commonly done by men. Unlike in animal raising, marketing of crops is more a job for women than for man.
Results revealed that the relationship between age, family size, educational attainment, number of projects where the respondents participated is not significant. This means that all these variables have no effect on the number of livelihood projects participated by the respondents.

Conclusions:-
It could be concluded that no definite characteristics serve as motivational factors for the respondents to participate in the livelihood projects. However, they usual reason was to have extra source of income.
Most of the respondents did not indicate the occupation of their husband, the commodity mainly focus on animal is swine and in crop raising, vegetables the respondents participate from production to marketing. Some of the benefits they get from participation are contributing to the improvement of barangay projects, having alternative source of food and gaining experience in animal and crop raising. The respondents are visited by extension workers either monthly twice or once a year, the primary hindrance in livelihood projects is the financial problem and they receive support on livelihood projects from barangay committee on agriculture and in the Municipal agriculture officers and staffs.

Recommendations:-
In promoting different livelihood projects, economic viability is very important. Access to information and extension services can also be strengthen for active and sustainable participation of target beneficiaries Further studies on other areas such as rate and sustainability of participation in different livelihood projects and the impacts of such participation on the welfare of the clientele are recommended.