MULTI DONOR SUPPORT FOR MNLF. Junaib Mohammad, former combatant of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Cluster Leader of the Livelihood Enhancement and Peace (LEAP) Program's seaweed production cluster in Palid, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay shows his 10-day old seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) grown in multiple floating lines. The seaweed is farmed under the LEAP Program, with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Munich, Germany. Mohammad and 74 other former combatants received seaweed production inputs as well as training from the Hanns Seidel Foundation upon joining LEAP Program's activities. Western Mindanao is the country's largest producer of carrageenan-producing seaweed, while the Philippines is the world's largest supplier of Eucheuma seaweed, cornering almost 90 percent of the world's total supply. The LEAP Program is a USAID-supported program that aims to provide former MNLF combatants with a peaceful means of making a living through rice and corn production, or seaweed farming. The program supports the 1996 Peace Agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine Government, and is being implemented in collaboration with the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo). (LEAP Program)

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