DMMMSU headed by its President, Dr. Jaime I. Manuel, Jr. and the Department of Agriculture (DA) led by Secretary William D. Dar, forged a Memorandum of Agreement for the implementation of the DA-Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Midterm Impact Assessment Project with a total fund grant amounting to Php 7,251,598.20 (Php 6,201,598.20 SAAD budget and Php 1,050,000.00 DMMMSU counterpart).

DMMMSU is the lead project implementer and the following State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) are the collaborating agencies:

• Apayao State College,
• Catanduanes State University,
• Central Mindanao University,
• Compostela Valley State College,
• Eastern Samar State University,
• Jose Rizal Memorial State University,
• Mindanao State University-Dadiangas,
• Negros Oriental State University,
• Samar State University,
• Siquijor State College,
• Sorsogon State University,
• Southern Leyte State University,
• Sultan Kudarat State University,
• Sulu State College,
• University of Eastern Philippines,
• University of Southern Mindanao, and
• Visayas State University.

The project team is led by Dr. Cynthia M. Rodriguez with the following members: Dr. Mabel M. Caccam, Prof. Valentino V. Prado, Prof. Rodolfo G. Nillo, Prof. Keneth G. Bayani, Prof. Emerita D. Galiste, Ms. Rolyne Mae C. Pajarillo, Prof. Rufo Baro, and Ms. Ma. Victoria C. Domingo. They have undergone a 5-day Trainors-Training on Impact Assessment (IA) held at the RDEC, DA-Agricultural Training Institute, Quezon City on October 21-25, 2019 where they were honed with skills in undertaking ex-ante and ex-post IA, methodological advances in IA and pathway analysis, requirements for clarity and credible evidence in IA, among others. Dr. Ma. Cynthia M. Bantilan, renowned IA International Consultant, was the Training Coach, who will similarly be guiding the team in the conduct of this 8-month project.             

Impact assessment is the measure of change. It is data intensive and employs quantitative and qualitative values. This SAAD Midterm IA Project will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the four major SAAD programs in the covered poverty-stricken provinces in the Philippines to identify gaps and meet expected outcomes, and determine the impact of the SAAD programs. (RMPajarillo)