HELPING HAND The Adopt-a-Farm project will help make poverty alleviation in rural communities sustainable. —CONTRIBUTED
Po family-led Century Pacific Food group has become the first company to embrace the government’s adopt-a-farm program that aims to build agricultural farming villages and create jobs for seasonally displaced workers.
Through its non-profit affiliate RSPo Foundation Inc., Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF) signed an agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to participate in the livelihood program.
Through CNPF’s “Project Hope Adopt-a-Farm,” the food and beverage manufacturer aims to address the lack of sustainable livelihood among workers in the fishing industry during the closed fishing season in Zamboanga, a manufacturing epicenter of marine products in Mindanao.
Under DOLE’s program, manufacturing companies can adopt a farm and transform it into productive agricultural land. In turn, harvested produce will be bought and used as raw materials by these companies to manufacture their own products, creating a sustainable ecosystem.
Raising the curtain for DOLE’s program, CNPF agreed to adopt three greenhouse farms that use indigenous materials for construction. Through these greenhouses, CNPF can generate jobs during the off-fishing season for displaced workers and their families, who can continue farming for the rest of the year.
“We see this as a win-win-win situation. These workers have a sustainable source of income through the farm, their families sell their produce to a ready buyer — us, and we have convenient and reliable access to much needed raw materials for our sardines business,” said Kamille Corpuz, program manager at RSPo Foundation.
“We stand firm in our commitment to alleviate poverty,” she added, “and we believe that it is only when we teach these men and women how to fish — in this case to farm — can we make this happen sustainably.”
One of the Philippines’ biggest branded food and beverage companies, CNPF produces processed marine, meat, milk and coconut products. With an established track record in brand-building spanning more than 40 years, it has developed a roster of household names such as Century Tuna, Argentina, 555, Angel, and Birch Tree. The company is also one of the Philippines’ leading providers of private label tuna and coconut products for export overseas.