|
By Nora O. Gamolo, Senior Desk Editor
Government and civil society partnership in
providing economic relief to the marginalized and poor—who make
up the informal sector—while tapping their hidden potentials was
once more demonstrated by 99 groups that participated in the
development fair held Wednesday and Thursday, April 9 and 10, in SM
Megamall Megatrade Hall.
Project proposals from the 99 finalists in this
nationwide search for innovative ideas were judged and presented to
the public.
The 2008 Panibagong Paraan fair had the theme
“Building Partnerships for Effective Local Governance.”
While the presentations took the form of project
proposals submitted to funders, many projects were already
operational and seen as notable achievements.
The NGOs participated in the fair to deserve
more funding for their outstanding projects.
Panibagong Paraan (literally, new way) is a
joint undertaking of the World Bank, the Department of Interior and
Local Government–Local Government Academy, AusAID-Philippines-Australia
Community Assistance Program, Peace and Equity Foundation, Canadian
International Development Agency, the Philippine Center for
Population and Development, the British Embassy, Team Energy
Foundation, The Asia Foundation, United States Agency for
International Development, Asian Development Bank, Caucus of
Development NGO Networks, the League of Corporate Foundations, and
the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement.
The project proposals cover a wide range of
activities from environmental protection to women’s rights, youth
empowerment, livelihood generation, governance and administration.
In the end, 30 winners of the project grant competition were awarded
with additional funds up to P1 million each to implement their
projects within one year.
Promoting upland agriculture
Awarded P1 million was the Cordillera Heirloom
Rice Project to build partnerships in building upland farmer
competency for global competitiveness in the towns of Banaue,
Hingyon, Kiangan, Hungduan, Asipulo, Aguinaldo and Mayoyao in
Ifugao Province; Lubuagan, Pasil, Tanudan, Balbalan, Tanudan and
Tinglayan in Kalinga Province; and Barlig, Bauko, Bontoc, Natonin
and Sadanga in Mountain Province.
Implementation will cost P2.466 million, with P1
million given as a grant from the funders. This project is
spearheaded by the group called Revitalize Indigenous Cordilleran
Entrepreneurs, Inc. partnering with the Kalinga Provincial
Agriculture office, the Ifugao Environment and Natural Resources
Office, the Rice Terraces Farmers Cooperative, the Cooperative
Development Authority-CAR, and Eighth Wonder, Inc.
The project will assist indigenous,
high-elevation terrace farmers to encourage them to stay on their
land and work their world-famous rice terraces to produce indigenous
upland rice varieties.
Workshops on leadership, business skills and
cooperative development will help these upland farmers establish and
strengthen a sustainable cooperative business.
Over one year, 18 participatory farmer workshops
will take place and information will be transmitted to villages
through village inspectors. Within six months, customized milling
machines will be identified and purchased. After one year, farmers
are expected to increase production and quality rice processing by
50 percent. A regional farmers’ congress will be the culminating
activity.
Assisting fishers, protecting mangrove crabs
Mangroves refer to salt-tolerant trees in the
coastal zone where there is a rich marine and freshwater
biodiversity. In mangrove areas, sea and fresh water meet to form a
pool rich in organisms that are also harvested for food like crabs,
snails, clams and others.
P1.496 million is alloted to the Trowel
Development Foundation. Involving nine coastal barangays of
Lavezares, Northern Samar, the project is to be jointly implemented
by the town government, Municipal Federation of Fishers, Farmers and
Women Associations of Lavezares, and the Municipal Agriculture
Office.
The project aims to increase the income of 400
subsistence fishing-households by at least 50 percent, protect and
enhance local biodiversity of crabs in nine mangrove sites and
institutionalize co-management arrangements for the protection,
judicious utilization, and management of aquatic resources in the
mangrove areas.
A disaster-responsive and mangrove-friendly tie
crab fattening method that entails individual crab production
management will be introduced. The innovation will mean less feed
wastage, less feed competition among crabs and selective crab
harvesting that will consequently bring higher returns on investment
and improve the local biodiversity of the mud crab.
A marketing agreement that ensures a ready
market for the crab grower, steady and reliable supply for the crab
buyer and higher returns for both shall be negotiated.
The project is expected to facilitate the
production and marketing of about seven tons of robust crabs in six
months and an additional 16 tons in one year. It also expects to
organize a functional crab industry association, increase the stocks
of mud crab in the mangrove areas, and upgrade knowledge, skills and
attitudes of 400 fisherfolk households after the one-year period of
implementation.
Empowering women in maguey production
In Ilocos Sur, a maguey production venture has
been proposed to provide income for community/indigenous women in
the 13 barangays and 86 puroks (villages) of Cervantes. It is a
low-income town primarily dependent on its internal revenue
allocation from the national government. Here, 70 percent of the
townspeople live below the poverty line.
Costing P1.6 million, with P1 million to be
provided as a grant, the maguey production project is to be
implemented by the Cervantes town government and the community-based
Cervantes Maguey Women Weavers, Inc.
Maguey, a rare fibrous plant identified with the
cool uplands, has been identified as ideal for the town under the
One Town, One Product (OTOP) program. Its fiber can be blended and
woven into varied crafts. The maguey heart produces honey water
which can be processed and distilled into tequila or pulque, which
can be sold in the international market.
Under the project, each family will become an
entrepreneur. After one year, the project will have completed family
profiles and the maguey inventory, established barangay nurseries,
planted enough land area, installed 13 decorticating machines,
trained people’s organizations on honey water processing and fiber
product designs, installed 13 mock-up feasibility studies and
mock-up product assembly lines.
The town government and the women’s
organizations are old partners that practice pro-active
participatory management, transparency, resources sharing and
community empowerment. The women are experienced in operating
projects, particularly in preparing the mock-up feasibility study
and production assembly lines. Multi-agency technical support
ensures that empowerment and entrepreneurial skills building will go
beyond the project start up.
In Bohol the project will help drug-vulnerable
youth till idle land.
In Agusan del Sur the nongovernment
organization Educational Discipline in Culture and Area-Based
Development Services, Inc. has sought P1 million to train the
members of the Kauswagan Abaca Farmers Weavers Association in the
barangays of Kauswagan and Anahawan in Sibagat, Agusan del Sur, to
weave the traditional tinagak and sinamay textiles.
Sibagat has chosen abaca as its product for OTOP
program of the Department of Trade and Industry.
|
