Mangyan mothers learn farm skills

The Mangyans, an indigenous group living on the island of Mindoro, have struggled to feed their families, secure their livelihood, and claim their ancestral domain.

Zero Extreme Poverty 2030 (ZEP 2030), a coalition of non-government entities that aims to reduce extreme poverty in the Philippines by 2030, has its eyes set on the Mangyans, recognizing that IPs are among the most impoverished in the country.

Apart from IPs, ZEP 2030 targets to help one million extremely poor families from among farmers, fisher folks, and informal settlers.

In partnership with the local government and civil society organizations, ZEP 2030 has worked with the Mangyan community to identify their pressing needs and work on building the sustainability of their food source.

Corazon Maribunay, a mother of four, describes the daily task of bringing food to the table. ““It’s difficult to live up in the mountains, we’re unsure where we can source our food especially when there is a typhoon or flooding in our area. If we get to harvest sweet potatoes or corn, we would have food, but it’s usually insufficient to tide us through the next harvest,” she said.

Armed with this knowledge, ZEP worked with the local community to undertake interventions and programs to address the issue of food scarcity.

The Mangyans’ Samahan ng mga Nagkakaisang Mangyan Alangan ng Mindoro Association said previous efforts to help their community farm their land had been unsuccessful, largely due to the absence of technology and knowledge transfer.

For six months, ZEP 2030’s Livelihood and Partnerships for IP clusters, led by Peace and Equity Foundation and Assisi Development Foundation, worked to educate mothers from 80 extremely poor families from the Mangyan-Alangan community.

With the help of EastWest Seeds Inc., the mothers were educated and given hands-on training on natural farming technology. The mothers learned to use farming tools, raise seedlings, and apply natural pesticides and fertilizers. They also acquired an understanding and appreciation for organic farming as a means to care for the land they cultivate.

“We surveyed the community and consulted the mothers as to the kinds of vegetables and fruits they usually ate at home. Upon assessment of their area, we identified crops they could easily grow and augment their family’s source of food,” said Benjamin Abadiano, lead convenor of ZEP 2030.

“Helping them plant the food they eat addresses the community’s need for food security and nutrition, and eventually, helps build their livelihood potential. It was enough push for the participants to finish and accomplish the six-month training.”

As part of the training program, ZEP 2030 helped the community build greenhouses, vermicomposting areas, dryers, and processing centers at the Tugdaan Mangyan Center for Learning and Development.

The bountiful harvest of the participating mothers was showcased at the 2018 Harvest Festival held last November. Participants demonstrated their newly acquired skills, including how to plot and prepare the land for planting, and how to make natural fertilizers and pesticides, to visiting stakeholders, local government representatives, and potential partners.

“At first, we didn’t understand how the training would help us. We thought the new farming techniques would only add to our expenses. But when we saw that our crops were growing fast, we were impressed and worked really hard.

We saw that common vegetation found in our backyard could be turned into fertilizers or pesticides. Our harvest was abundant. We found a stable source of food. We could also sell the produce in the market,” Abadiano said.