Sariaya, Quezon – Beaches, breads and pastries, tikoy, and tamales are not the only things that this over 400-year-old-town is known for. The Sentrong Pamilihan ng Produktong Agrikultura ng Quezon Foundation Inc. (SPPAQFI) is fast gaining recognition not just among the town’s people, but likewise in the whole country as well.
Early this year, Central Mindanao University Dean Ma. Luisa Soliven and PCARRD-Socio-Economics Research Division staff members trooped to this town to observe and learn about SPPAQFI.
Incidentally, PCARRD funded Soliven’s research and pioneered the use of the supply chain methodology in development programs in agriculture, forestry and natural resources. SPPAQFI now serves as the inspiration for other “bagsakan” centers. And here’s why...
Sariaya Bagsakan Center: The story
Established in 2004, the SPPAQFI Bagsakan Center then had a profit-driven management system that was unfavorable to both traders and farmers. This led to its irregular operations and eventually, its fall.
In 2007, Congressman Proceso Alcala took over the management of the center. Armed with a vision of helping Sariaya’s farmers achieve a better quality of life, Alcala re-established the bagsakan into an institution and assigned Arnulfo Mañalac as its administrator.
Initially, the office of the congressman paid SPPAQFI’s operational costs. Now, the foundation acquires funds by charging farmers a participation fee of P2 per kilo of vegetables.
The foundation buys seeds and fertilizers from private companies. The companies were skeptical then about the ability of the foundation to handle a huge amount of credit. Eventually, the increase in the distributors’ sales encouraged the companies to transact directly with the foundation.
In some cases, farmers intentionally did not pay off the inputs with their produce. Thus, SPPAQFI decided to transfer the management of loans to the rural banks. This awakened a sense of responsibility among farmers who now pay off their borrowed capital.
To guarantee further that the farmers would deliver their produce to the bagsakan center, SPPAQFI provides them with production inputs.
Efforts of the foundation
To manage price fluctuation, SPPAQFI shares knowledge on low-input farming and crop assignment to its members. Yet, the foundat ion does not just provide financial and technical help. It is also able to boost the morale of the farmers, leading to empowerment. As Mañalac said, Hindi kami magaling para mag-isip para sa mga farmers.” (We are not all-knowing to think for the farmers.)
A notable example was the negotiation with an institutional buyer - Chowking. The farmers negotiated the terms of transactions on their own. Now, they don’t feel that they are simply just farmers. They now feel like successful traders as well.
Outcomes and future plans
The success of the bagsakan manifests in the increase in farmers’ income. For example, eggplant and tomato famer Ramilito Barte of Barangay Ulbok Lutucan in Sariaya earned a seizable profit. His farm’s total revenue was P383,753. After deducting production cost (P25, 780) and participation fee (P45,216), his net income amounted to P312,757.
In a similar success story, farmer Felipe Heli reportedly earned P246,226.50 from a total output valued at P353,551.
To further productivity, the foundation is planning to take two huge steps: first to establish a processing plant where unsold vegetables can be processed to increase profit and provide employment; and second to turn the foundation into a cooperative.