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[March 16, 2006]

Women farmers new project

(Philippine Daily Inquirer Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)LAST MARCH 10, THE 29-year-old Samahang Kababaihang Barangay (KBB) and the Samahang Kababaihan Development Foundation (KBDF), composed mostly of grassroots women farmers, celebrated the first year anniversary of their newest programthe San Miguel, Bulacan Ten-Year Community Based Health Program (CBHP). This was done on the occasion of womens month and the birthday of the late Ka Emma Sta. Ana, their leader.


The CBHP is the KBB-KBDF partnership with the local government under the leadership of Mayor Edmundo Jose Pop Buencamino, the Physicians for Peace, and many other NGOs.

Community programs

Among the CBHP accomplishments reported by KBB president Gloria Manapol were: 291 cataract and Pterygium surgeries performed with the help of the Sukob and the Bulacan Society of Opthalmologists; Ka Ising Quizon and Ka Tindeng Manuson three-week trainers training on the tuberculosis program sponsored by the Physicians for Peace; hospital equipment donated by the Physicians for Peace to support the rural health unit upgrading; 18,000 mango seedlings produced (in partnership with the municipal nursery), and 120 amputees screened and 40 prosthesis (artificial legs) distributed.

In this years Womens Month, the KBB identified three flagship agriculture projects that would help its new development thrust in health. These women farmers have gone from pigs (agriculture) to toys (small industry), to politics (good governance), and to health (with agriculture as a key component). These projects build on each other to complete an entire holistic approach. The KBB is using agriculture as a main tool to promote a good diet that is essential to good health. The three projects are malungay, mango, and dairy production.

Malungay is one of the most nutritious vegetables in the country, and is actively promoted by the Management Association of the Philippines Agribusiness Foundation. It can easily be propagated as it grows easily without much need for maintenance. The KBB and KBDF will have contests to encourage participation and motivate performance.

Carabao dairy dispersal

A year ago, Agriwatch launched a carabao breeder project with the KBB. This year, the KBB has decided to raise funds to be able to disperse 50 carabao breeders. San Miguel, Bulacans original name was San Miguel De Mayumo. They make the best pastilles de leche. However, San Miguel has to import its carabao milk from other provinces because they consume more than they can produce. What is more, the excess milk that will be produced under the program can be consumed by the community, contributing to its health program. This direction is consistent with an Agriwatch finding that, in many instances, it is more economical to produce dairy milk rather than import it.

Mango variety upgrading

The late Ka Emma Sta. Ana, in her time, led the KBB in planting one million mango trees in the members backyards. The KBB succeeded. There are now mango buying stations in San Miguel and a big mango processing plant in Malolos that gets its supply mostly from San Miguel.

Last year, the KBB launched a mango variety upgrading program with the help of the DAs Philippine Mango Center. Already 18,000 mango seedlings have been grown and ready to be grafted to become mother trees. The target of the KBB is to raise 100,000 mango seedlings a year in the next 10 years.

Best womens program

The KBB is the same group that won the award from the United Nations for being the Best Rural Womens Project in Asia in 1984 and the Best Womens Development Project in the World in 1989.

The San Miguel, Bulacan Ten- Year Community Based Health Program is another step forward to promote the concept of building transformative communities. The project demonstrates how the community takes responsibility for their own health program. It is premised on the principle that health is a basic human right of every individual member of the community. It is the duty of everyone to do his share in making sure that the health of each person is looked after as a community responsibility. For more information on this, please call KBBs ka Tindeng Manuson (044-6780609).

Added note

Congratulations to Inday Campo, president of All Community Based Forestry Management Agreement (CBFMA) People Organizations in the Philippines covering 2.2 million hectares. Last March 13, Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes immediately acted positively on her strong stand that all automatic CBFMA cancellations ordered by other officials be stopped. Called lola by DENR officials, Campo has shown the effectiveness of a true woman farmer leader during this womens month of March.

(The author is Agriwatch chair. For inquiries and suggestions, email agriwatchphil@yahoo.com or telefax 02-8516635.)

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