Yolanda inspiration for inclusive growth

ON JUNE 29, I came upon a Yolanda micro-scale project that is truly an inspiration and a recommended rallying point for inclusive growth.

In the municipality of Pastrama, which is an hour’s drive from Tacloban, I talked to a couple who transformed a P200 investment into a net income of P10,500 in three and a half months. They are Barangay Dumarag Captain Dhayay Mas and her husband, Dumarag Farmer Association president Cesar Mas. What is impressive and admirable is that they have generously shared their successful experience and methodology to other farmers in their community.

This project is not a ningas-cogon. It is on its fourth-cycle today. Below is a table that compares this actual soy micro-project implementation with the model I described in my Aug. 10, 2013 commentary (DA-DSWD program for the poor).

SOY INPUT/OUTCOME

ITEM MODEL YOLANDA PROJECT

Input:

o 2 kg of seeds

P 100

P 100

o Time before harvest

o Harvested seeds 3 months

100 kg 3.5 months

100 kg

Income:

o Milk P 18,400 P 7,500

o Sapal/Veggie Meat P 3,500 –

o Seeds – P 3,000

Total Income P 21,900 P 10,500

In November of 2013, Yolanda struck. It took three months before a Department of Agriculture (DA) team was allowed to promote this soy micro-project to the Yolanda-stricken areas. This team, led by Soybean Program chair Rosemarie Aquino (0915-4622438), has since visited this project site three times. They can confirm its successful results.

There is a difference between the model described in my commentary and the actual implementation in Pastrama. This explains the numbers in the table above.

Though the actual implementation resulted in 3.5 months instead of 3 months before the seed harvest, the yield of 100 kgs of seeds from the initial 2 kgs at the start was the same. The selling price per liter (which translates to five 200 ml glasses), was 10 percent higher in the project.

However, the total milk income from the project was less than half the model’s. Though the price per liter of the project was P50 instead of the model’s P46, the Mas couple decided to process only half the soy seeds into milk. The rest of the seeds were sold to other farmers so that they could replicate the project. As for the actual milk produced, they sold only 75 percent. Their family and relatives consumed the remaining 25 percent with no cash income.

There is no P3,500 project income from sapal/veggie meal that was originally proposed in the model. The sapal/veggie meal was still produced, but also consumed by their family and relatives with no cash income.

Much of the credit for this implementation goes not only to DA, but also to St. Scholastica Sister Eloisa David, OSB. She is fondly described by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Director Cynthia Niarras as “isang madre na doktor at negosyante”. Sister Eloisa, who was instrumental in strengthening and running Tacloban City’s Divine Word Hospital, said: “For me to help the poor, I have to help them to be in business. The poor should not rely on dole-outs, but instead secure dignity by earning their own income through business”.

Best livelihood

Sister Eloisa helps initiate livelihood activities in varied areas such as chicken and hog-raising, soap-making, herbal products, and skin ointment production. She said: “This micro-soy project appears to be one of the best I have seen for the poor. It involves an investment as small as one hundred pesos, as well as an excellent return in less than four months. Since I am also a doctor, I am glad it promotes health because of soy’s high nutritional value.”

Though Sister Eloisa is already engaged in more sophisticated soy processing using economies of scale, she says it is this micro-soy project that can be implemented in remote areas. She added: “In those areas, there is little money, no electricity, and very poor nutrition.” She personally found a mechanical processing machine that does not need electricity for P1,300 in Divisoria that can serve several families.

In the midst of suffering, the Mas couple put their trust in God and prayed to be His instruments to contribute to a better life for the poor. This brings to mind this prayer that they like: “God has not promised skies always blue, flowers thrown on pathways all our lives through. God has not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, pleasure without pain. God has not promised we shall not know trial and temptation, trouble and woe. God has not promised we shall not bear many a burden, many a care. But God has promised rest for the day, strength for the laborer, light for the way. He has promised grace for our trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.”

We join this couple in hoping that their Yolanda micro-scale soy project will be replicated in the many poor areas of our country. It is a true inspiration for others to pursue our much needed inclusive growth.

(The author is chair of Agriwatch, former Secretary for Presidential Flagship Programs and Projects, and former Undersecretary for Agriculture, Trade and Industry. For inquiries and suggestions, email [email protected] or telefax (02) 8522112).