We are happy to be invited by our partners at the Southern Christian College (SCC) to serve one of the communities with whom they are working — the Cotabato Interfaith Leaders Association or CIFLA.
Our PBCI-CFP IncluDev Consulting Team in Central Mindanao, led by Sihaya Ansibod, will be committed to a one-year coffee business training program for a community of farmers in Barangay Pacao, Alamada, North Cotabato. The training series shall be an integration of technical skills on coffee production and values enhancement.
The objectives of this endeavor are: (a) to build initial relationship with the participating coffee farmers in Barangay Pacao, Alamada, North Cotabato; (b) to get baseline data of the existing coffee in Pacao and get existing coffee production and processing techniques; and, (c) to train a community of farmers on quality coffee plantation management and processing based on Specialty Coffee Association standards.
Prior to the training, a CFP consultant who is also a licensed Quality Grader from the Coffee Quality Institute will taste the coffee of the farmers in order to get baseline information.
The technical training will include: (a) coffee plantation development and management; (b) coffee processing and production; (c) roasting techniques; and, (d) marketing strategies.
The focus of the training series will depend on the outcome of the baseline data gathered from the farmers.
A significant part of this program will be the values enhancement training. Such values include social entrepreneurship, financial management, and peace-and-reconciliation.
We are grateful to Dr. Elma Neyra, Vice President for Research and Extension, Southern Christian College, for giving us this privilege of working with her respected team — specially the pleasure of working with Ms. Dee Victoria Bat-og, and Ms. Analyn Deriquito.
In this cooperative work, the implementing organization in terms of technicalities will be the PBCI-CFP IncluDev Team. CIFLA, with the supervision of SCC, will be the leading organization and the monitoring team for the project.
This partnership with SCC is part of a bigger picture. A number of people’s community organizations with whom we are working together are moving towards inclusive development. They are actively involved in the areas of various livelihood initiatives, such as: vegetable farming and marketing; bamboo product manufacturing; and, brick-making using silts and palay hull.
Inclusive Development is based on three pillars: (a) high, sustainable, regenerating development and growth to create and expand economic opportunities; (b) broader access to opportunities to ensure that members of society can participate and benefit from development; and, (c) social safety nets to prevent extreme deprivation.
As we are getting deeply immersed in divided communities because of unresolved conflicts, the more we are becoming aware of the need for inclusive economic development as a critical aspect of our peace and reconciliation mission.
All our inclusive development activities are all framed in Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) Principles — that is, harmony with the Creator (spiritual transformation); with one’s being (psycho-social transformation); with the others (socio-political transformation); and, with the creation (economic-ecological transformation).
