From housewife to being an empowered and productive organic farmer – this is the story of many of the women farmer-cooperators of the project, “Gender-responsive organic vegetable production livelihood enterprise for low-income communities of Los Baños, Laguna.” The project is spearheaded by the Gender and Development (GAD) Committee of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD).
The project, which benefited 123 farmer-cooperators from Barangays Bagong Silang, Timugan, Putho-Tuntungin, Bambang, Bayog, Malinta, and Mayondon, was conducted in collaboration with the Los Baños local government unit (LGU).
Located at the foot of the Mount Makiling, Barangay Bagong Silang has the most farmer-cooperators (46%) and the highest number of women cooperators who participated in the project.
Annabelle delos Reyes, one of the women farmer-cooperators of Barangay Bagong Silang, has converted hours of domestic work to farm and community work that provided her income and food for the family. This setup allowed both delos Reyes and her husband to earn from the vegetable project and at the same time share in domestic chores.
Before the project started, most of the farmer-cooperators had little or no knowledge on how to produce organically grown vegetables. Benny Badillo, another farmer-cooperator from the barangay, had previously depended on young and mature coconuts for livelihood until cocolisap and typhoons ruined their coconut palms. This was also the experience of Teresa Gayas, who depended on their fruit trees, which unfortunately were always damaged by pests.
Equipping farmer-cooperators with skills on organic vegetable production
The project imparted know-how and skills on organic vegetable production to farmer-cooperators through a series of trainings that included seed production, organic fertilizer production, vermicomposting, postharvest handling, marketing, farm record keeping/documentation, mushroom production, agripreneurship, leadership training, and gender sensitivity training workshop.
“The training introduced us to different types of plants that could serve as insect repellant. We also learned how to use ayumet tea as ameliorant and lengthen our harvest’s shelf-life,” said delos Reyes. She also shared that the barangay was inspired to put up a mushroom house after the training on mushroom production.
Cross-visits to other farms also inspired the farmer-cooperators with their communal and individual farms. According to delos Reyes, they learned edible landscaping and urban gardening using plastic bottles and other recyclable materials to grow their plants in a limited space. They were also introduced to integrated farming system, which they can use when they decide to do business.
Utilizing the skills and reaping the benefits
Currently, the farmers of Barangay Bagong Silang produce bitter gourd, lettuce, tomato, okra, pechay, mustard, eggplant, sitao, and peanut, among others. They market their products at the Los Baños Friday organic market and at Herb Republic restaurant on Mondays and Wednesdays. They also market their produce at the Organic Agri Fair of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU), Los Baños every last Friday and Saturday of the month.
Aside from fresh produce, delos Reyes also said that they learned how to develop processed food from their harvest like ‘atsara,’ ‘suman,’ ‘burong mustasa,’ pickled garlic, and spiced vinegar, among others. These are also sold alongside their fresh produce.
Barangay Bagong Silang has been benefiting from the project, through the profit they are earning from their sales. According to delos Reyes, from August to December 2016, the communal farm of the barangay has earned P19,340 from sales and non-cash earnings. Non-cash earnings are the produce consumed by the farmers and not sold to customers.
The earnings from the communal farm are being loaned to farmer-cooperators without interest but should be paid within a month. The remaining cash is being used as funds for their barangay.
The farmer-cooperators’ individual earnings have improved. Badillo’s income from the Friday organic market, for example, has increased from more than P100 per week to P2,000 per week. The income also allows Gayas to buy grocery for her family that is good for one week after each sale in the organic market.
During PCAARRD’s women’s month celebration, delos Reyes expressed her gratitude to PCAARRD and the Los Baños LGU.
“The gender-responsive project has greatly benefited our farm, especially the women. I am immensely thankful for the opportunity to speak before a crowd when I thought that this was only given to prominent people. I will not forget this opportunity and I consider this as a huge achievement,” she said.
Other initiatives under the project
To be able to strengthen and sustain the production and marketing activities of organic vegetables, an association was formed among the farmer-cooperators. The association was named Los Baños Association of Organic Fruit and Vegetable Growers. The members are from Barangays Bagong Silang, Timugan, Putho-Tuntungin, Bambang, Bayog, Malinta, and Mayondon.
The association was accredited by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and is a member of the Laguna Organic Practitioners Federation (LOPF). It is also actively involved in the activities of the Laguna Internal Control System (LagICS) Association particularly in assisting organic practitioners prepare for third party certification of organic farms and products.