Felicitas Patria of Jose Dalman, Zamboanga del Norte is this year’s Most Outstanding Rural Woman Achiever while Jovita Ayson is Outstanding DA-Employee GAD Advocate in the annual awards ceremony by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in celebration of World Rural Women’s Day.
DA and FAO also awarded the United Women’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MPC) of Bohol as Outstanding DA-GAD Partnership Project. They were feted last Thursday at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management.
Patria, who was also awarded as Gawad Saka’s Outstanding Fisherfolk (Fish Culture) in 2004, is recognized for her exceptional determination and unselfishly sharing with others her innovative ideas.
She has utilized indigenous materials in seaweed production and educated the people of her barangay on the proper management and protection of coastal resources. All of these have contributed to the significant increase in the productivity and income upliftment of the community.
Ayson, Regional Director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Region II, is cited for her exemplary contribution to improve the plight of marginal women-fisherfolk through mainstreaming gender concerns in the fishery sector and facilitating the provision of training, credit, and extension services towards the development of the fisheries sector.
She has efficiently managed strategies involving women and various rural-based organizations in fishery-related that contributed to the attainment of an increased fish-sufficiency level in Region II.
