AROUND 107 families from the suburbs of Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte — some of whom had been displaced by conflict — were set to improve their harvest-processing capacity after receiving post-harvest machinery from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Residents of Sitio Lusong in Barangay Puting Bato received a corn sheller and corn mill from the ICRC during a handover ceremony in December 2023 that was attended by officials of the local government unit (LGU) and the City Agriculture Office of Cabadbaran.

The ICRC worked with the LGU of Agusan del Norte to complete the project.

Apart from equipment, displaced families and host residents received food rations, farm tools, and seeds such as maize, beans and squash.

Last year, 107 households were trained by the ICRC and the City Agriculture Office of Cabadbaran on contouring techniques, intercropping and post-harvest management techniques.

It was also in 2023 when the ICRC completed the rehabilitation of the village's water supply system.

The ICRC was a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stemmed from the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

The ICRC helped people around the world that were affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything the committee could to protect people's lives and dignity while relieving people's suffering; often, alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.