PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OFFICE IN PAETE, LAGUNA

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.