DAVAO CITY – A farmers’ cooperative enterprise in Bualan, Lanao del Norte used to produce banana flour manually. The farmers in a Compostela Valley town settlement used to crisscross trails with dangerous gullies making it hard to market their products.
Angel Bacoco, a member of the Board of Director of the Bualan Agrarian Reform Community Cooperative, said gone were the days when they used to make banana ketchup, banana flour, even the banana chips manually. Gone were the days, too, when members of her community just sit idly waiting for the next production.
Speaking in Bisaya, Bacoco recalled how they worked until late in the night to peel, blend to fully process fresh bananas into flour or ketchup. She said it takes time to process one kilo of banana in a day.
Now, the Bualan coop members are producing 24 bottles (300 ml), 10 plastic bottles (200 ml) 13 bottles (370 ml) of ketchup from one kilo of fresh banana. If they used to work until 9 p.m, now they finish the processing at 4 p.m at a minimum of four kilos banana.
Bacoco said production has increased and their income also grew.
Most of all, she said farmers no longer “standby” because there is nothing to do in their community.
On the other hand, the income of the Mandaya farmers of Karagan Valley has improved. Karagan Valley is a settlement between the towns of New Bataan and Maragusan.
Alvin Obrique, the component manager of the Mindanao Sustainable Agrarian and Agriculture Development (MinSAAD) Project, said Mandaya community of Karagan Valley was only accessible by horse or a motorcycle driver who can manage trails with deep ravines on both sides.
He considered the settlement in Karagan Valley as one of the last frontiers in the Philippines where DAR and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) give interventions to improve the situation of the people in very remote areas through the MinSAAD project.
Now, Mandaya farmers of Karagan Valley settlement can easily market their products because of improved road. Karagan Valley farmers produce coffee, peanut and abaca.
The improvement of the farm-to-market roads was one of the interventions delivered by the government. This also allowed government agencies to deliver construction materials to the area.
MinSAAD is a PHP4.4 billion project of the government through DAR as the lead agency and the Japanese government through JICA.
The Philippine government shelled out PHP1.052 billion as counterpart while JICA funds amounted to PHP3.349 billion through loan. The effectivity of the project was in 2012 but the actual approval of the funding was in 2014.
The implementing agencies are the Department of Public Works and Highways, National Irrigation Administration, and the local government units.
Obrique said the MinSAAD project targets the country’s “last frontiers”.
The project covers 12 settlement areas in Regions 9, XI and 12 in Mindanao. This covers the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Bukidnon, Compostela Valley, Davao del Sur, North Cotabato, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
Obrique said the project is aimed at increasing agricultural productivity, product value, and income of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and other small-scale farmers through the provision of small-scale infrastructure and agricultural support systems.
For Bualan cooperative, DAR through MinSAAD provided blender which helped ease the processing of banana ketchup.
Among the interventions were post-harvest facilities, water system, farm-to-market road, technical support for farmers.
Obrique said the projects benefited 110,000 households. There were 2,211 small infrastructure projects of which 70 percent are farm-to-market roads. There are other sub-projects to improve production of rubber, coffee, cacao, and vegetables.
Need for market
On Tuesday, DAR held “Usapang Kalakalan” at the Apo View Hotel to facilitate market matching for the beneficiaries with buyers and investors.
Usapang Kalakalan, which is the first market opportunities forum to assist farmers on market engagement. The products that were showcased were coffee, rice, rubber, and corn.
The forum was attended 80 percent of the farmers’ cooperatives and organizations and the rest are buyers.
One of the business encounters was the peanut growers of Karagan Valley and the makers of the famous Peanut Kisses of Bohol and Chedengs Peanuts of Iligan. Both companies, which import peanuts for their products, now want to source their peanuts from the Karagan Valley farmers.
DAR XI Director Joseph Orilla said the forum was intended to assist farmers, ARBs and link their products and services to appropriate market using he value-chain development approach.
Orilla said the forum provided information on market opportunities and requirements in processing and trading of the products.
There are 20 viable enterprises assisted by MinSAAD. Of the 20, three (one for each region) will served models and 17 are enterprise development of major crops.
Sustainability
Unfortunately, MinSAAD project is winding up in July next year. But DAR-MinSAAD project team assured to strengthen institutional development so that farmers will continue to get support from the local government units, which also need to provide budget for rural development.
Obrique said it is difficult to leave the farmers on their own.
The farmers should be supported especially where maintenance of facilities are concerned like post-harvest facilities and the water system.
DAR will also be requesting to extend the MinSAAD project for another year.
Cristy Dagdag of DAR central office said the extension of the project would allow them to continue or complete all physical activities especially projects which are still coming in.
Dagdag said underscored the importance to sustain the interventions extended by the government so that these will not go to waste. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
