| The natural environment plays a huge role on the health and welfare of people who rely on it as their sole source of income and food. This is the case for many across the globe who live in remote barangays with little access to outside markets. They depend on the land to provide them with enough food to feed their families through the year and enough money so that they can afford medical care, clothing and shelter.
Due to changing climates, environmental damage from slash and burn farming, the over usage of pesticides and many other causes, people who depend on the land for their livelihoods are suffering. Solutions Ecosystems (SEA), Inc recognizes that many farmers and families simply do not understand the causes of their troubles and need help in identifying ways to improve their existing resources. This is also true to other sectors of the society like business and schools. On the northern part of Iloilo lies the Municipality of Ajuy, Province of Iloilo. It is 87 kilometers from Iloilo City. It extends from Piliwan, its southernmost sitio to Serruco River in the north. Its jurisdiction is bounded in the south by Ajuy Bay, in the north by the town of Sara and in the west by the town of Barotac Viejo. The Municipality of Ajuy was formerly a part of Sara. It became a full-fledged municipality in 1917 through the untiring efforts of its educated citizens under the able leadership of Dionisio Diel, Alejo Posadas, Manuel Arones and Antonio Manipula. These men were mainly responsible for the separation of Ajuy from Sara. Ajuy is a second class municipality located in the northeastern part of the Province of Iloilo. It is bounded by the municipality of Sara in the north, by the Ajuy Bay in the south, by the municipalities of Lemery and Barotac Viejo in the west and by Concepcion in the east. It is 87 kilometers away from the city of Iloilo. It is composed of thirty four (34) barangays. With a total population of 47,248 (2010 Census). Based on the Land Management Bureau data, the municipality of Ajuy has a total land area of 17,557.19 hectares. It is an agricultural town and produces various crops such as corn, coconut, sugarcane, fruit trees, bananas, coffee, bamboo, root crops and other minor agricultural crops. Approximately 5,707.84 hectares which represent 32% of the municipality’s total land area is devoted to agricultural crop production. Some Ajuynons also engaged in livestock and poultry production. As a coastal town, Ajuy ranks third to have the widest fishing grounds in Northern Iloilo having an approximately 74.83 kilometers coastline. These are located at the Apitong Pass, Guimaras Strait, Anhawan Channel, and Visayan Sea, situated near the boundary of Ajuy and Negros Occidental. With its beautiful sceneries found in the white-sand beaches of its costal and island barangays, majestic waterfalls and pristine environment of its hinterland barangays, Ajuy celebrates the Tambobo festival and Tambobo stands for a bamboo storehouse used to store the yields and products of the townspeople. Solutions Ecosystems Activator, (SEA). Inc with its newly opened areas in Panay is working closely in the Municipality of Ajuy, Iloilo to help introduce to the communities the concept of Sustainable Area Development or SIAD. The partnership will ensure that the municipality will coordinate and work hand in hand with SEA, Inc. for the strategic development of their town anchoring SIAD in their CLUP’s with a tripartite workforce for the sustainable development of their town and empowerment of the people in their community. SEA, INC 2017
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