In Search Of The Wizard Of Sustainability


In pursuit of the new PH Agriculture with Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, my new contribution comprises the concept I call The Wizard Of Os, where the 5 Os are: Obstacles, Opportunities, Options, Outputs, and Outcomes.

Here now is anotherjob for The Wizard!

Obstacles

They are all over the place – read!

Opportunities

Jica Simpas, Content Producer at Pepper.ph, writes, “Here Are 4 Organizations That Work Directly with Our Local Farmers[1]:

BukidFresh – Aaron David & Gorby Dimalanta work with small farmers who are members of coops in Cavite and Laguna.

Farm To Folk – Ms Jica does not say where FTF operates.

Good Food Community – Adrienne Tan & Carl Lee work with farmer groups in Capas, Tarlac and Dumagats from Rizal.

Real Food – Nicole Olbés Fandiño goes for healthy, clean food – free of chemicals, hormones and preservatives. She works with farmers from different places. She says:

We have visited many of their farms and have seen their passion – we’ve seen how they respect the earth and treat their animals humanely. Their produce is a cut above the rest and we value this.

Outputs

I see the 4 food companies steadfastly working with farmers to sell farm produce.

Outcomes?

All that is Very Good, in fact Excellent – all cultivating the farmers they are dealing with. But how are they cultivating entrepreneurship among the farmers and/or cooperatives of which they are members? Who determines the price any time, and are the farmers in fact earning sustainable incomes arising from marketing arrangements?

Says Farm to Folk: “In a way, we empower our local farmers to be businessmen themselves.” No, FTF. I do not see that is happening. They are producing and delivering farm produce, but that is less than half of being in business. The bigger part of entrepreneurship is marketing plus duly receiving the equitable share of the added values along the chain. Without a fair marketing contract, I do not see entrepreneurship happening.

Says FTF further:

The process is simple and direct, just as our brand name. We source the goods, which includes grains, coconut, cacao, fruit/veg powders, and coffee, straight from farms, fulfilling orders to our customers.

That is to say, Farm To Folk is buying and selling the farmers’ produce – now, who determines the price and who gets the lion’s share of the added values? If it is not the farmers earning more, then they are actually helping themselves more and helping farmers less!

Farm To Folk believes that “the ultimate power to help create impactful change in our agriculture sector rests on the Filipino folk. With increased demand for local, organic products, our Filipino farmers can have fair, sustainable livelihood.” No FTF. That is not correct. It is notdemand that singlehandedly determines sustainable livelihoods – it is equitable distribution of values added.

I see the 4 organizations are doing their best for the producers, but their best is not enough – someone must teach the farmers to be entrepreneurial themselves, conscious and able to turn costs & returns in their favor –leading towards sustainable & desirable lives!@517





[1]https://www.pepper.ph/here-are-4-organizations-that-work-directly-with-our-local-farmers/?fbclid=IwAR3Ozv4M7dDF99GbQs6qMsGrXsUlGu6lwGHUzDTP_XgDjoPejP2ctLUjLaY




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knorr Of Big Business Unilever Thinks Big Business Regenerative Agriculture – My Tiny Country PH Also Should!

Image
“Knorr’s plan for 50 regenerative agriculture projects is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use by an estimated 30% while improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods.” That is regenerative agriculture (RA) news by Julian Cirineo (05 Nov 2021, “Unilever Wants To Rethink How Farms Work To Secure Food And Resources For The Future,” Rappler , rappler.com ). Note: 50 (not 5 only) RA projects to improve greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and water use by 30% – plus improving biodiversity, soil health and livelihoods. Note the last 7 words in the above paragraph. How can RA improve biodiversity? RA requires that the farmer practices multiculture (a few or many crops grown at the same time in the same place), where monoculture (such as rice-only or corn-only) is the practice – the biodiversity improves crop health because of the ensuing balance of nature, such as some organisms feed on other organisms that would otherwise become pests or cause diseases. RA is your
Read more

In Looking At The Crown Of Thorns, I Found The Clowns

Image
We could use a surprise sense of humor!  Yes, especially on the wide problematic fields of Agriculture. There was this news that some high PH government officials wanted to probe Vice President Leni Robredo for “competing against” PH agencies in providing much-needed assistances during this coronavirus lockdown, and Marigs Laririt shared a picture-story on Facebook quoting Ms Leni as saying, “I didn’t know it was competition. I didn’t see any competitors!” Ms Marigs says, “Ay, parang friends ko kung sumagot si Mam.” (Ay, with Mam, it’s just like my friends answering back.) That is a two-handed backslap, and you can imagine the lady laughing! She is the humor-monger; they are the clowns. Today is Friday, 03 April 2020 and in one account ( Wikipedia ), Friday the 3 rd of April was crucifixion of Jesus and his crowning of thorns [1] . (images: Crown of Thorns [2]  from St Anthony Messenger , 1 st clown [3]  from The Guardian , 2 nd clown [4]  from Shutterstock ) About the living clowns I
Read more

“Natural Farming” – Aggie Journalists, We Must Be Careful With The Terms We Use!

Image
Look at the contrasting images: Which one is correct in claiming what is being practiced is “natural farming”? Top Image: This one accompanies the Anonymous WWF-Philippines story, “Mindanao Farmers Start Off the Year with Natural Farming Systems Technology” published online December 2019 [1] . The World Wide Fund, WWF, is a very credible international source of knowledge on conservation, right? Not this time. Very clearly, you can see the white plastic mulch covering the furrows and bare soil in-between them. Mr or Ms Anonymous, the plastic mulch is not natural. The soil not covered in-between furrows is not natural. So much soil bare, not natural, allowing so much natural water wasted because it had evaporated from the unprotected, hot soil surface! That is not conservation; that is not natural. The term “natural” is used here very carelessly . Aggie journalists, wake up! How come I noticed all that immediately when I saw the photograph? Because I learned my organic farming more t
Read more