Module 6 Related Project Reports on Planned Change and Rural Development in Asia and Africa
Four (4) different projects, three (3) in Asia (2 Philippines and 1 Thailand) and one in Africa (Dominican Republic in Congo), are presented as follows:
Project Report 1 / Community Mobilization and Social Preparation for the Utilization and Commercialization of Sweet Sorghum in the Philippines (2008-2011)Project Report 2 / Helping a Farming Community Move from Corporate Oil Dependency and Climate Change Adaptation to Local Resiliency and Sustainability (2011-2012)
Project Report 3 / One Tambon One Product – Planned Change as a Strategy of Poverty Alleviation in Thailand
Project Report 4 / Worth Program – Autonomy and Emancipation of Women in the Dominican Republic of Congo Rural Areas
Objectives
At the end of the module the teacher and the student(s) are expected
1. to prepare a proposal on or a model of Planned Change in Rural Development for a depressed community in one’s country using Modules 1 to 6 as reference materials,
2. to improve a module by further enrichment, better synthesis, editing, and adopting Work Ethic module format sent to the students,
3. to identify lessons learned from this module format which can be applied in improving the course package of Planned Change in Rural Development, and
4. to prepare a proposal of Planned Change in Cooperative Development to show that the student can apply the lessons learned in Planned Change in Rural Development, cooperative development being an important dimension of it.
Project Report 1
Community Mobilization and Social Preparation for the Utilization and Commercialization
of Sweet Sorghum in the Philippines (2008-2011)
F.Talens Rivera, S.M. Roguel, A.A. de Leon, & J.R. Hipolito
Introduction
This is a Summary Report of the DA-BAR-CLSU-LGU-Cabiao Project entitled Social Preparation and Further Capability Building for the Promotion of Sweet Sorghum Utilization and Commercialization. The project site is a relatively small far flung barangay named Bagong Sikat (new ray) located in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. The project was conducted from August 1, 2008 to May 31, 2011. Methodologies used were: descriptive survey, participatory farming system improvement action research for rural development using community mobilization and social preparation as major strategies.
Rationalizing project extension from January 1 to May 31, 2011 due to the La Nina phenomenon until early November, became necessary as unexpected long dry spell delayed the establishment of the 20 ha first sweet sorghum crop of 12 red sorghum grain farmers.
The Field Day and Micro Strategic Action Planning as part of last phase of community mobilization and social preparation were undertaken on February 21 and March 17, 2011 respectively where Mayor Jerry Pelayo of Candaba and his son Patrick Pelayo of the Philippine Ethanol Manufacturing Distillery and Services, Inc. (PEMDAS) were invited as guests speakers. and proposed future partners of a vigorous sweet sorghum industry integrating small scale farmers in commercial scale ventures of sweet sorghum biofuel and food enterprises.
Government organizations (GOs), non-government organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, as well as individuals in various sectors of the community were mobilized as strong support for possible Cabiao-Candaba LGU-LGU tandem to strengthen the production-processing-marketing supply chain of the promising grain.. Modest fund support for these later enriching activities came from CLSU, LGU-Cabiao, Sanggunian Bayan, Vice Governor Jose Gay P. Padiernos of the Provincial Government, and the Lingap Tao para sa Kabuhayan Foundation, Inc. of which the Project Leader is President.
This Summary Report was derived from results of five (5) interrelated micro studies, namely:
ü Profiles of the Community and Farm Families
ü Community Mobilization and Social Preparation for the Promotion of Sweet Sorghum Utilization and Commercialization
ü Documentation of Related Sweet Sorghum R and D Activities in Luzon, Philippines: a State of the Art Summary
ü Developing Sweet Sorghum Village Multi-Product Enterprises for Improved Quality of Family Life
v Sweet Sorghum Flour Native Cakes and Delicacies using Sweet Sorghum-Wheat-Flour-Herbs Mixture Baked Products
ü Establishing a Field Training Ecofarming School for Leaders, Field Workers and Farm Families
v First draft of the Training Manual, with Suggested Curriculum, Learning and Living Modules for Continuing Social Preparation and Further Capability Building for a Proposed LGU Project One Town One Product (OTOP) of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, a prevailing sorghum grain country of Central Luzon since the 70”s using sorghum grain as feed for animals with farmers shifting to planting sweet sorghum beginning 2012.
Accomplishments
Micro Study 1 Profiles of Community and Farm Families
Putting people and community/family first, derived from Schumacher ‘small is beautiful’ the initial start of the project consisted of characterizing project site Bagong Sikat, Cabiao,in terms of physical, biophysical and economically beneficial resources
v characterizing farm families, consisting of a random sample of farmers, women and out-of-school youths (OSY); in terms of socio-economics, demographic, farming experience, farm size, tenure status, farming system and resources used, employment, income, sources of income of family members, poverty situation and social needs, farm resources, major problems met, loan utilization, trainings, organizational needs, and awareness of sweet sorghum as a potential crop in the area
Participatory development communication and community/family based action research -
v Bagong Sikat, is a farming community of 213 households averaging 5-6 members per family mostly farmers and landless as labor force/major stakeholders comprising 1,177 people (2005). Farmland in the area composed of 2,897 has. a large portion of which is cultivated by farmers mostly living outside the barangay. Farming system used is a rice-sorghum grain (other grains and vegetables) with a few animals (native chickens, ducks and goat)
v potential of Cabiao composing of 23 barangays for a sweet sorghum or mix white (sweet sorghum) and red (sorghum grain mainly for feed) sorghum is around 7,000 has.
Micro Study 2
ü Community Mobilization and Social Preparation for the Promotion of Sweet Sorghum Utilization and Commercialization
v after more than two years of development activities, communities and support groups partly mobilized as evidenced by their participation in various planned activities in which they participated, namely – participatory rapid rural appraisal using various techniques as key informants focused interviews and discussions why plant sorghum grain or sweet sorghum, advantages and disadvantages, several workshops-writeshops on usual planning, implementing, evaluating phases and action planning sessions, attending general assemblies and film showing, special meetings, field days during 2 sweet sorghum harvest festivals, training on sweet sorghum production and product development, work ethic, honing human essence and core values.
v at the beginning of the third year, planting of sweet sorghum after rice for the first time in November to December 2011 by 12 sorghum grain farmers, with the initiative of a father-daughter farmer entrepreneur tandem, providing seeds, micro financing, facilitating good land preparation assistance by tractor owner, and market support to co-farmers
Community mobilization starts with community immersion, with project staff
establishing a helping relationship without developing client dependence
v Project Staff, helped farmers procure sweet sorghum variety SPV422 from MMSU; provided brochures on sweet sorghum package of technology and other information, education and communication (IEC) resource materials upon which they can start self-study
v The DA-BAR-CLSU-LGU-Cabiao partnership for the promotion of sweet sorghum utilization and commercialization was started by the late Mayor Abundia “Biding” Lumbang Garcia (2008-2011) has been realized with Mayor Gloria “Baby” Crespo Congco (2010-2013) supporting the project of the previous executive by activating the Municipal Agricultural Development Committee (MADC); headed by Councilor Julito Wycoco who Chairs the group, assisted by Engr. Jose Hipolito, Municipal Planning and Development Officer (MPDO), Mr. Ruperto Joson, Municipal Agriculturist and Mr. Emilio Galang, an experienced community development officer now in Charge of the Office of the Senior Citizen Association (OSCA)
v purchase and turn over of two Stationary Gas Ovens by the DA-BAR sweet sorghum funded project to LGU-Cabiao, one to be used at the Lingap Tao Kalikasan EcoFarming School in Bagong Sikat, and the other, by the OSCA, which will help pilot the Bread with Herb for Life Project (small scale bakery using sweet sorghum and wheat flour; it is the plan to replicate this module project in other interested barangays organized by clusters, and once operational, to form these into a Bakers Association Cooperative, a component of organizational development for planned change in agricultural and rural development
v multi-sectoral GO-NGO collaboration and cooperation using participatory development communication
v assurance of the farmer-entrepreneur (father-daughter Libunao Family) tandem for a sure market for white and red grain sorghum and continuing planting of sweet sorghum, this is benevolent farmer-entrepreneurship or social entrepreneurship at its highest
v decision to form the LGU-LGU Partnership of a Cabiao-Candaba tandem agreed upon by two LGU executives during the First Farmer Sweet Sorghum Field Day on February 17, so-called Pagdiriwang ng Masaganang Ani ng Sweet Sorghum ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabyaw, celebration of the first farmer sweet sorghum harvest in Cabiao, where this town which is recognized as the sorghum grain country since the early 70”s becomes the sweet sorghum plantation of farm family entrepreneurs developing village livelihood systems while Candaba LGU provides appropriate distillery and other equipment, as well as market and investors for high yielding sweet sorghum seed-capital assistance
v for the LGU-Cabiao-Candaba-LGU partnership to succeed, it will be backstopped by four state higher education institutions (HEIS) intra and inter institutional collaboration and cooperation both emanating from CLSU, as well as a private college, CRT
· Central Luzon State University (CLSU), as overall coordinator of sweet sorghum R and D activities in the area
· Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NEUST), leading in using sweet sorghum baggasse as fuel for home cooking, making them into charcoal briquettes and utilization of its new invention a stainless stove where the briquettes will be used; also as fabricator of small machines needed to spur the village sweet sorghum industries
· Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC), leading in sweet sorghum product development for nutritious viands, delicacies and other viable products, with appropriate relevant studies, showcasing exhibits and demonstrations
· College for Research and Technology (CRT), for leading in online education (idea already tested in 2010 for a graduate student from Africa, taking up Planned Change in Rural Development, a course of a Ph D program in Rural Development at the Open University where the project leader is teaching an online course RD 806 Planned Change in Rural Development), and development, packaging and production of IEC resource materials (in print and CD)
· Inter-institutional collaboration and cooperation. Over at CLSU, inter-institutional collaborative and cooperative support activities are:
Ø College of Home Science and Industry (CHSI) – research, extension and training scheme was developed by an interdisciplinary and multi sectoral team of the college, headed by Alma de Leon, a Food Scientist with the DA-BAR Project Leader as consultant, indicated for replication in other HEIs
Ø College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) – sweet sorghum festival street dancing created and performed by the CAS Cultural Group students under advisers, Ms. Aubrey Rillon and Ms. Precy Paringit during the Community Mobilization for Action Planning NE-Day activity in Bagong Sikat Lingap Tao Kalikasan EcoFarming School on March 21, 2011; the first completed undergraduate thesis is about the use of sweet sorghum grain as culture media in mushroom production was assisted by the DA-BAR-CLSU-LGU Cabiao Project
Ø Research Office backed up by the Research, Extension and Training (RET) administration initiated the first sweet sorghum half ha demo farm in the research area for supporting small scale village entrepreneurship, with Carlos Abon as project leader
v Five NGOs which will assist the LGU-Cabiao continuing projects with regards to respective concerns and expertise are -
· Lingap Tao sa Kabuhayan Foundation, Inc., will support improvement of village sweet sorghum multi-product development and women-run local banking system with the help of Happy Earth, Inc.; will facilitate negotiations for needed facilities, equipment and machinery acquisition (a contest for the design of a bamboo-steel tri-bike kitchen-store of herb-sweet sorghum flour street foods for public schools is under way)
· Senior Citizen Association, for cooperative development and organizational management for operating barangay bakery to produce Bread for Life products
· Happy Earth, Inc. for acquiring sweet sorghum flour mill developed by the Philippine Rice Research; for custom hiring; each cluster barangay may also buy its own sweet sorghum flour miller in the future
· Karen Bakery, a local bakery shared its pan de sal and other saleable products expertise in developing sweet sorghum products for village enterprises, through training, exhibits and demos; and
· Nazareth House through Rev. Deacon Bugay 5 ha farm donating two buildings as main face to face school facility and the farm itself together with the whole community as social laboratory for the Lingap Tao Kalikasan Ecofarming School established by the Project, where a blessing and thanksgiving mass on September 17, 2010, was held, attended by stakeholders from different sectors.
v As mentioned earlier, two major community mobilization and related social preparation activities were held in 2011. One was a Field Day held on February 21 as a rice-sorghum grain farmers celebration of harvesting sweet sorghum for the first time. This was followed by Community Mobilization for Action Planning (see page 13 for the suggested micro action planning format) activity held on March 17, 2011. Both are major activities of Study 2
v Individual Private Multi-sectoral Participation
· Sergio Ortiz Luis, President Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc., and Honorary Chairman, Confederation of Employees Association of the Philippines, a Kabyaweno, representative of Class A population, supporting sweet sorghum bread with herb powder additive (like moringga, pandan, saluyot); believes that sweet sorghum flour has big potential even globally, as recently, certain wheat flour products are found to cause allergenic problems; considers the Kabyaweño pan de sal made of 20 percent sweet sorghum and 8o percent wheat flour as palatable and acceptable, except for its sweetness and color as he prefers white bread, should be supported as a staple nutritious food for Filipinos, considers bakery for cluster barangays/even per barangay as having potential for supplementing pan de sal made of pure wheat flour