| budget |
€ 209.698,77 |
status |
execution |
| start date |
01-08-2007 |
date end |
31-12-2009 |
| location |
|
country |
philippines |
| financer |
Agriterra |
| executor |
Federation of Free Farmers |
intervention level |
sub-national |
| Programmes |
| work area 10: Farmer-to-Farmer Agricultural Extension | IFAP 10: Increase market power for farmers | |
| description |
 The proposed project aims to raise the net incomes of FFF rice farmer-members in at least 1,000 farms in 100 target villages by an average of 20% through an alternative, and more affordable, profitable and sustain¬nable rice farming system.
Major project activities include the selection of village-level project areas for organic (...more...) |
| description |
The proposed project aims to raise the net incomes of FFF rice farmer-members in at least 1,000 farms in 100 target villages by an average of 20% through an alternative, and more affordable, profitable and sustain¬nable rice farming system.
Major project activities include the selection of village-level project areas for organic rice production, the training of core farmer technicians who will assume technology dissemination and monitoring roles, establishment of trial organic rice farms in project areas leading to mass dissemination of organic farming technology within the community, additional training and technical exchange exercises among project participants, the development of an internal quality control system, initial marketing support and promotional activities for organic rice products, and project monitoring and administration. (...less...) |
| results & observations |
The project essentially accomplished its physical target of 100 trial farms and training for at least 2,000 individual farmers. It was able to undertake a relatively large scale of technology promotion through its direct training activities, promotional initiatives, and technical exchange exercises in 21 provinces. A corps of (...more...) |
| final results & observations |
The project essentially accomplished its physical target of 100 trial farms and training for at least 2,000 individual farmers. It was able to undertake a relatively large scale of technology promotion through its direct training activities, promotional initiatives, and technical exchange exercises in 21 provinces. A corps of trained farmer-technicians have also acquired major skills in organic rice farming and in providing technical advice to farmers. Training and promotional materials developed through the project have been widely disseminated. An initial internal quality control system has been tested and established in selected project sites.
However, the project fell short on several counts. A major shortcoming has been the relatively low adoption rate of 14.4% versus a target of 50% of total trial farm training participants. An indicated in previous reports, this was mainly due to the wait-and-see attitude of most farmers on the one hand, and the aggressive promotion by the government of production programs using hybrid seeds and inorganic inputs on the other. Although organic rice farming practitioners acknowledged significant reductions in their input costs, this advantage was offset by the subsequent softening in market prices of commercial fertilizers and other inorganic inputs. Additionally, while the available data indicates that organic farmers were generally able to generate more sales income due to increased yields and/or premium prices for their organic products, the relatively weak marketing support extended by the project to farmers and chapters who eventually went into commercial-scale production of organic rice products may have served as a disincentive for others to follow suit.
Nevertheless, it is highly likely that the results have been understated owing to the weak performance of the project’s monitoring system. Some trial farm training participants may actually have partially adopted some technologies without appearing to be formal organic rice farmers. The adoption rate is also expected to improve over time as the performance of existing organic rice farmers is more widely and positively appreciated by farmers in their area.
Farmers, technicians and project staff have tended to belittle the importance of monitoring and data generation in improving the performance and impact of the project. Although a lot of data was gathered on trial farm training participants, subsequent data on the performance of farmers who adopted the technology was not adequately captured. Hopefully, the continued conduct of IQCS on-site inspections will fill up this data gap over time.
Participating farmers have opined that the project should have provided more marketing support, particularly in linking them up with sustainable and profitable market outlets for their organic rice products. While the reduction in input costs could be a major attraction for adopting organic rice technology, most farmers still look at price premiums as the most important incentive for shifting from their current farming practices. Although the project provided some support in terms of promotion activities, participation in trade fairs and harvest festivals, and linkages with government and non-government entities, further effort apparently needs to be exerted in developing actual market linkages which would enable practicing farmers and chapters to unload their organic rice products to larger markets at a sustainable and profitable scale.
Although project support has ended as of December 31, 2009, the accomplishments of the project provide solid ground for sustaining the activities and expanding its impact beyond the project term.
(...less...) |
| specialisms |
| Agricultural extension | Food crops | Training | |
