Empowering Negros Agrarian Reform Communities Through

Alter Trade Foundation Inc.Bacolod City, Negros Occidental

WEE-SERVE Asia Conference, April 19-21, 2017 at AIM Conference Center, Makati, Philippines

Empowering Negros Agrarian Reform Communities Through Social

Entrepreneurship


What is ATFI ?§ A non-stock, non-profit, non-government organization organized in 1997 to

provide support services to marginal producers in Negros Occidental.

ATFI VISION:“We envision a system that is economically just and ecologically

sustainable rooted in self-reliant and self-determining communities.”

ATFI’s MISSION is: “To be a dynamic and innovative social enterprise geared towards

eliminating poverty in rural marginal communities by enhancingeconomies through sustainable agriculture, social entrepreneurship and fair trade.“


ATFI’s Objectives:

1.To develop the capacity of rural marginal producers for them to manage the whole value chain and claim ownership or their respective products

2.To help build the pillars of local economy development in areas where we have social enterprise engagement towards poverty reduction.

3.To establish a socially and ecologically oriented broad consumer base that patronize fair trade products and supports the growth of community based agricultural production.

What is ATFI ?


The Negros Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries

The Negros agrarian reform beneficiaries are former farmworkers who earned an average of P71/day ( or US$1.40) in the former Sugarcane Plantations called Haciendas.

Women workers were paid half of at the men received. Child labor was a common practice in the plantations.

Each agrarian reform beneficiary received land grants from the government’s Land Reform Program at an average of 0.5 hectare to 1 hectare per beneficiary. But land distribution is not enough.

The ARBs still need production capital, sustainable technologies, capacity building and access to a stable market in order to become self-sufficient and sustainable.



Cycle of Misery

•Landlessness •Mono-crop •No Capital•No Technology• No access to Market

•Soil Degradation

Low Productivity

Low Income

Malnutrition, No Education Poor HousingNo Hospitalization

Low Working CapacityNo Management

CapabilitySickness and Diseases


To effectively alleviate rural poverty, ATFI matched each major problem of ARBs with a corresponding support service:





Alter Trade Foundation’s Programs As a Fairtrade Service Provider

ARBs’ empowerment through Transformational Service Programs

q Holistic Organizational Empowermentq Sustainable Agriculture Technologies q Credit and Savings Programq Advocacy and Networking

ARBs ATFI


Alter Trade Foundation’s Service Programs empowering Negros ARBs

HOE: Holistic Organizational Empowerment

A program on organizational development that empowers agrarian reform beneficiaries to manage their community resources including ecology, their production activities, their finances and investments, and strategic development plan.


SPADE: Sustainable Production and Area Development EnterprisesA program empowering agrarian reform beneficiaries on sustainable and organic farming technologies and farm enterprises through participatory technology development , farmers’ field school and cross-farm visits.



CRASP: Credit Access and Savings ProgramA program providing access to affordable credit for farm production and enterprises and empowers the agrarian reform beneficiaries by enabling them to manage their project funds, build-up their own capital, accumulate assets and equipment, investment planning on farm-enterprises.



Advocacy: A service program for propagation of sustainable agriculture-organic farming and fairtrade orientation among agrarian reform beneficiaries associations, participation in LGUs’ local development planning, engaging government agencies in relevant programs (anti-poverty, organic agriculture, marketing and fairtrade, peace and development, etc.)



Complementing Organizations for Sustainable Development

To meet the needs of the new challenges, ATFI caused the establishment of complementing organizations:

NOFTA

Negros Organic and Fair Trade Association, Inc.

§ A non-stock, non-profit, second-grade organization of producers’ primary associations, whose main mission is to consolidate self-sustaining and self-governing producers’ organizations in order to achieve economy of scale and build up its capability in engaging with government, consumers, private sector, financial institutions, NGOs.

§ NOFTA is composed of 13 primary associations with 734 farmer members (342 men / 392 women) or 53.4% are women.

NOFTAThe creation of NOFTA in 2009 was part of ATFI’s strategy to fuse self-determining communities of marginal farmers. It’s general objectives are:

q to achieve economy of scale for organized marginal communities;

q to muster a stronger bargaining power vis-à-vis private business organizations, government agencies and other NGOs

q to pursue sustainable development through inter-community complementation and cooperation in production and marketing.

What is NOFTA?

NOFTA MEMBERS REGISTRATIONMEMBERS

(M /F ) SUGARCANE & DIVERSIFIED CROPSSTARFA Cooperative 73 (42 / 31) Organic Rice, Tropical Vegetables, CalamansiNAFA Farmers Ass. 25 (11 / 14) Various Fruits, Tropical vegetables

PIBFA Farmers Ass. 34 (14 / 10)Coffee, Various Fruits, Coconut, Corn, Oranges, Passion Fruit,

MIARBA Non-Profit Org 131 (63 / 68) Organic Rice, Duck eggs, native chicken HECARBA Non-profit Org 34 (16 / 18) Banana, tropical vegetables

HACARBA Cooperative 43 (28 / 15) Org. Fertlilizer, Rice, Peanuts, Meat Products,

SIPFAWA Farmers' Ass. 19 (12 / 7) Temperate vegetables, Taro, Camote, Carrots

MAGOFAWA Farmers' Ass. 33 (23 / 10) Camote, Corn, free-range PoultryC92ARBA Farmers' Ass. 22 (14 / 8) Chicken, Swine, Eggs,

BEDA Farmers' Ass. 54 (33 / 21)Corn, Rice, Tropical Vegetables, Pepper, duck eggs, taro, pineapple

BIFA Farmers' Ass. 48 ( 32 / 22)Native swine & Chicken, Rice, corn, fruits, ginger, taro, turmeric

CAPSEA Farmers' Ass. 47 (13 / 34)Temperate Vegetables, Carrots, potatoes, Baguio beans, Taro, Ginger, Turmeric

YUPA Farmers' Ass. 171 (41 / 130) Banana, Ube, Ginger, Taro, Camote,

13 POs 734 Members(342 M/392 W)

1,381.59 MT Raw Sugar + Diversified Crops and Livestock


Complementing Organizations for Sustainable Development

To meet the needs of the new challenges, ATFI caused the establishment of complementing organizations:

Social Enterprise Empowerment for Rural Development, Inc. (SEED, Inc,)

§ A non-government, non-stock non-profit organization whose main mission is to provide continuous training and capacity building for POs and NGOs engaged in social entrepreneurship

NOFTA Fair Trade Haus, Inc.§ A business organization majority owned by producers who are

members of NOFTA, whose main mission is to link small producers to the fair trade and socially-oriented consumers and enterprises.


Alter Trade’s Organic and Fairtrade Value Chain empowering Negros ARBs

“From Gate to Plate”

NOFTA

(ATFI)

( NGO Service Providers)

Fairtrade Processing

Fairtrade Distributor

Fairtrade Trader

NOFTA Fairtrade Haus


2015 Achievements of ATFI & NOFTA

Economic • As of Dec. 2015, partner farmers’ monthly income:

Ø from diversified crops = Php 6,994.00Ø from sugarcane = Php 7, 532.00• It means 100% achievement of food sufficiency

and 80% of households have crossed the poverty line.

• Have repaid loans from 98%-100% • Acquired assets: tractors, trucks, training

centers, irrigation pumps, rice mill, computers, bakeshop, processing equipment, etc.


Social • 414 households could send children to college.

• Gender Equality in production and organization

• No child labor • Homes are improved to concrete/semi-

concrete with appliances • POs are recognized by LGUs / GAs / Local

banks and participate in BUB-MDC planning



Ecological • 734 Farmers have conducted Climate Change Disaster Risk Reduction (CCDRR) mitigation/ adaptation planning

• Planted fruit and forest trees in at least 10% of farms

• No GMO, No Burning, No Toxic Chemicals

• Practice organic farming and use natural inputs



HOW ARE RURAL WOMEN EMPOWERED UNDER ATFI’s DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ?

ATFI facilitates Gender Mainstreaming among its partner rural communities through:

§ Gender Disaggregation and Assurance of Project Benefits for Women § Basic Gender Orientation in the conduct of Community Development

Planning§ Orientation on VAWC and Women-Children’s Rights § Conduct of Gender Assessment in the community § Policy formulation to address Gender Problems

> Women membership in ARB organizations> Equal Work-Equal Pay for both men and women> Development of women leaders and managers> No child Labor > Development of community enterprises that increase

women’s income



Onward with Social Development !

NOFTA ATFI

Documents

Empowering Negros Agrarian Reform Communities Through