The Philippine Statistics Authority Regional Statistical Services Office CAR (PSA RSSO-CAR) successfully conducted a 2nd Level Training on the 2015 Survey of Food Demand for Agricultural Commodities (SFD) last May 27-28, 2015 at Albergo Hotel, Baguio City. Participants were led by Ms. Olivia G. Gulla, Interim Regional Director, heads and staff from all six Provincial Statistics Offices (PSOs): Apayao, Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mt. Province.

 

Ms. Maui S. Nalugon of PSA Central Office and Ms. Ma. Gina V. de Guzman of PSA RSSO-CAR served as the resource persons for the SFD training.

On the first day, for his opening remarks, Mr. Benjamin Y. Navarro of RSSO-CAR shared some statistical trivia from the results of the 2012 SFD and underscored the importance of the survey to policymakers. After sharing the history of the SFD, Ms. Nalugon then explained how the survey results are used to estimate the food requirement of the general population, determine buffer stocks and the need to import agricultural commodities. Ms. Nalugon proceeded to describe the training design and the survey methodology. Ms. De Guzman gave an overview of the survey including the objectives and key concepts. She also shared general instructions, principles of good interviewing and filling-up of the questionnaire.

Ms. Corazon Bagto of PSO-Mt. Province opened the second day with a recap of the previous day’s activities. Ms. De Guzman then gave additional guidelines on the completion of the questionnaire while Ms. Nalugon clarified concerns raised by the participants. The rest of the day was spent in the conduct of mock interviews and a briefing on editing and coding guidelines. The training ended with a discussion on administrative matters.

The SFD Training was conducted in preparation for the 3rd level training to be conducted by the PSOs and the actual field operations scheduled in August 2015.