Farmers in conflict-vulnerable areas in Mindanao experienced increased incomes after the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin), along with partners Landcare Foundation of the Philippines (LFPI) and ACIAR Mindanao Agricultural Extension Project (AMAEP), implemented the Livelihood Improvement through Facilitated Extension (LIFE) model, an alternative agricultural extension delivery strategy, from December 2017 to April 2021. The program had the support of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology(PCAARRD-DOST).

“Incomes increased from 31% to 89%, and their vegetable gardens and other livelihoods provided a steady source of income,” said UPMin professor Emma Ruth Bayogan, program leader of the “Enhancing Livelihood Opportunities in Conflict-Vulnerable Area in Mindanao through the Livelihood Improvement through Facilitated Extension (LIFE) Model,” at the 7th National Research & Development Conference organized by the DOST on September 15 to 16, 2022, at the PICC Complex.