San Clemente, Tarlac – Strengthening climate resilience in San Clemente, Tarlac has been Good Neighbors International Philippines’ (GNIP) mission for the communities. In 2022, the farmers were able to have better climate knowledge through the availability of technologies that helped them mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The partnership of GNIP and the San Clemente Local Government Unit (LGU) has been strengthened for the augmentation of the project which aims to provide a composting facility and foster the capacity of agricultural cooperative.
Through the second phase of the project, the beneficiaries were able to establish their cooperative from being a farmers association to an agricultural cooperative to offer services to farmers and the community. With their determination and unwavering support from San Clemente LGU, their ambition was further boosted, which included capacity building for cooperatives.
In October 2023, the San Clemente Farmers Agriculture Cooperative (SCFAC) was officially registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) with more than 30 members from the community making them ready to enter the agricultural business.
As their vision statement says, “The San Clemente Farmers Agriculture Cooperative is a successful organization that is united, loves nature and responds to the needs of farmers and communities.”
The cooperative promotes organic compost fertilizers as its main business. Through this project, the composting facility was also built which included a processing structure and several compost beds that bordered the site from September to October.
As part of the cooperative members’ responsibilities, they collect agricultural waste and raw materials, such as rice husk, rice straw, and others, for composting to start the initial material sourcing for the facility’s future operations.
The products they currently sell are organic inputs for the farmers. These are the compost products from vermiculture and agriwaste compost. They also have organic plant supplements in the form of foliar concoctions.
Moreover, SCFAC’s newly formed women and development committee, led by the only woman on the Board of Directors, set a precedent for empowering female members by spearheading the production of organic foliar fertilizer concoctions made from naturally occurring materials.
On the 17th of November 2023, the composting facility was completed and inaugurated in conjunction with the launch of the newly registered SCFAC joined by project partners from San Clemente LGU, Central Luzon State University (CLSU), and the cooperative members.