Plan Int’l, PhilDHRRA, CapSU assess Food Facility Project
By Niño Manaog, Extension Associate, Capiz State University
With reports from Corazon Ditarro, Mae Demontaño and Marty Delfin
After 18 months of rigorous implementation, the Productive Capacity Improvement of Civil Society Groups in the Philippine Agricultural Sector and Establishment of Safety Net Measures against Volatile Food Prices, briefly known as the Food Facility Project (FFP) initiated by Plan International ended in October 2011.
Funded by the European Commission (EU), the FFP was undertaken by the said nongovernment organization through the assistance the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in the Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA) and the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Capiz State University Pontevedra Campus in Bailan, Pontevedra, Capiz.
According to Project Officer Susan Calaor sustaining the project initiated in 21 communities in the province of Capiz “was a major challenge given the time frame of implementation.”
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WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
Engr. Corazon Ditarro (top left) help farmers groups write the lessons learned from Plan International’s FFP; while and Ms. Mae Demontaño and Marty Delfin (lower left) document the proceedings.
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In less than two years, “our partnership has tried to install sustainability mechanisms in terms of systems and structures at the barangay and municipal levels and all of us are hoping that these will be sustained even beyond the project,” Calaor said.
To help identify the lessons learned by the stakeholders in the project’s implementation which can guide future undertakings, Plan International assisted by PhilDHRRA and CapSU Pontevedra’s Agricultural Engineering Department hosted a Lessons Learned Workshop on October 6–7, 2011 at the Villa Consorcia Resort in barangay Malag-it, Pontevedra, Capiz.
Said workshop convened the farmer beneficiaries to update the partners on the status of the project after 18 months of implementation. In the two-day closing activity, the major stakeholders identified the gaps in sustaining the project and their respective roles of partners and ways to move forward beyond the Food Facility Project.
Representing Capiz State University, the partner academic institution who actively pitched in for the Food Facility Project, Engr. Corazon Ditarro and Engr. Marty Delfin of the Agricultural Engineering Department helped facilitate the sessions led by the Plan International personnel led by Plan’s Susan Calaor and Lea Escantilla of PhilDHRRA. Ms. Maria Mae Demontaño of CapSU Pontevedra’s College of Education documented the workshop’s proceedings.
Lessons Learned
Ms. Evelyn Vega, chairman of the United Men and Women for Agricultural and Fishery Development (Umwad) - Pilar, Inc., shared that humbleness always helps to succeed in this endeavor. For Vega, there are still a lot of challenges to overcome in the future, but it is best to continue the best practices that work while learning from the lessons and mistakes from the past.
Melanie de la Cruz, director of the Maayon Community-Based Agricultural Development Organization (MCBADO) said that some of the respondents did not tell the truth about their economic status, so the objectivity of the indigence of the beneficiaries can never be exactly validated. During the organization personal priorities like children, housekeeping, framing, livelihood activities conflicted with the schedule of the activities, so it was recommended that regular attendance in meetings by cluster leaders be encouraged, through good rapport.
De La Cruz said that it is hard to please everybody—because despite the systematic procedures used in organizing the community, some people were dissatisfied. De la Cruz encouraged beneficiaries and leaders who attend seminars and training from their barangay to echo their learning to their constituents. There is a need to share the knowledge, and practice communication skills by transmitting ideas and learning’s to those who lack knowledge about the organization.
For their part, Mr. Lito Nisnisan, agricultural technologist at Pontevedra’s Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMA) suggested ways on how to overcome challenges about the indifferences that may come along the way. According to Nisnisan, the council is the right channel to help to support and justify the efforts made by the project implementers.
After the formal turnover of the project to the barangay, Pontevedra Fishers and Farmers Agricultural Development Organization (PFiFADO), Inc., United Men and Women for Agricultural and Fishery Development (Umwad) - Pilar, Inc. and Maayon Community-Based Agricultural Development Organization (MCBADO) will run their own programs thru the collaborative effort of the officials and member beneficiaries. To plan out the course of action to be taken to sustain the project, the farmers’ organizations were asked to consider “the dreams of the organization in the next 3 years.”
Local government officials also took part in the drawing of insights from the project. Pontevedra MHO said that her attendance in the workshop made her more aware of the importance and collaborative efforts of the different sectors.
Personnel from the Pontevedra’s Social Work and Development Office also said that Plan International is commendable because its projects were implemented and the people benefited. She said the beneficiaries deserved the benefits of the project and; because the beneficiaries have already been empowered, it is their responsibility to sustain what had been started. She urged the people to commit to sustain the project to create impact in their lives and their communities.
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PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
Plan International’s Susan Calaor (far right) guides the farmer leaders on how to best maximize the projects and facilities downloaded to them as beneficiaries of the Food Facility Project.
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Interestingly, a participant told the group of a story about a tribe who used to sit by the campfire every night as a community. There came a time when they stopped this tradition because they already learned to buy and use appliances. Since electricity became available to them, they used up bulbs instead of the usual fire. According to him, the story resembles that of Plan International. There will come a time when no story teller will be present anymore because life will have been modernized. The storyteller said that the old idea should not be forgotten even in the modern age because farming is the indispensable, alternative way to solve today’s many problems brought about by modern technology.
Summing up the participation of the CapSU Pontevedra’s Agricultural Engineering Department, Engr. Corazon Ditarro, encouraged the community that “we are mandated to perform formal instruction inside the classrooms, but we extend to the community, we cater to adults and out-of-school youth (OSY).
Having worked with Plan International for more than a year, Ditarro cited the lessons they learned. Among others, Ditarro commended and sought to continue the camaraderie and commitment of the members, always maintain patience. Ditarro said that the project would not end when the Plan International exited in October 2011.
Rather, the action and advocacy plans laid out by the three farmers groups in the series of capability building workshops will work out in their respective municipalities.
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| THANK YOU VERY MUCH, THANK YOU. Members of the three farmers organizations, namely: Pontevedra Fishers and Farmers Agricultural Development Organization (PFiFADO), Inc., the Maayon Community-Based Agricultural Development Organization (MCBADO) and the United Men and Women For Agricultural and Fishery Development (UMWAD) - Pilar, Inc., along with their local government officials, wave hands to express their gratitude, support and commitment to Plan International’s Food Facility Project which was turned over to their LGUs in October 2011. CapSU Pontevedra’s Agricultural Engineering Department helped facilitate said project. |
