PHILLIPINES—The Philippines Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) is constructing a US$37,600 feed mill for a small-scale farmers association in Maguindanao to strengthen the Halal Promotion Compliance in the region.

According to Senior Agriculturist Engr. Saidona Lawan, focal person for MAFAR Halal Development Program, the project sought to provide halal feeds to promote halal-compliant poultry and fish production.

“We proposed this project to ensure that we can provide and maintain halal-compliant products starting from farm to plate,” said Lawan.

Construction is expected to be completed within four months after which it will be turned over to Sisiman Agriculture Cooperative. The halal feed mill building will have 150 square meters, capable of storing 500-600 sacks of feeds.

Guindulungan Municipal Administrator Datu Harabas Midtimbang expressed his gratitude to MAFAR for the continued program in the area, especially on the halal development program.

“This is a big help for us to have a halal feed mill project that will ride in with our vision — to be an Islamic Center Municipality,” Midtimbang said.

The increment in the Muslim inhabitants has introduced the term halal all around the globe. The ignorance about halal in non-Muslim communities has made the grade of imported products hesitant for Muslim countries.

Halal assurance is important in animal feed to avoid uncertainty of the raw materials used in feed production, as feeding animals with animal ingredients (by-products) are not permitted. Some halal animals may not be halal just because of the animal feed fed to them.

The global demand for halal food has been steadily rising over the past few years. As estimated by ResearchAndMarkets, the global halal food market size was valued at US$842.3 million in 2020 and is predicted to grow by 10% in the coming years, reaching US$1.72 billion by 2027.

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