COMPLETION REPORT
Promoting Participation in Sustainable Enterprises (PPSE)
PPSE Goal and Purpose
The over-all goal of PPSE is “to contribute to the
reduction of poverty, inequity and social fragmentation
among the disadvantaged rural sector of Philippine
society by improving the capacities of NGOs and POs to
promote economic competitiveness in a manner consistent
with sustainable development principles, that is,
people’s participation, ecological protection, gender
equity, human rights and social equity.”
The project purpose is to increase the human, natural
and financial resource use of poverty groups in selected
farming estates of the Philippines so that they can
participate more productively and competitively in the
economic development of their communities and/or region.
PPSE Project Scope and how it intended to respond to the
challenges in the development context
The number of beneficiaries targeted in PPSE is 3,500
rural households or about 21,0000 individuals in
selected farming communities. The project’s target
beneficiaries consist mostly of farming estates or
agrarian reform communities (ARCs) who have been
provided land under the government’s agrarian reform
programs of 1972 (i.e., Presidential Decree No. 27) and
1988 (i.e., Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program/CARP
of 1988).
The number of farming estates or communities covered was
10, or 5 more from the original 5 estates stated in the
contribution agreement. The increase of farming estates
was due in part to the difficulty of identifying project
sites with an average of 1,000 hectares each. PPSE
originally targeted 5,000 hectares but the increase of
the number of estates to 10, enabled the project to
cover a total of 8,458 hectares as of end of project
date.
To contribute to the reduction of poverty, inequity and
social fragmentation among the selected disadvantaged
rural communities, it was necessary to increase the
human, natural and financial resources use of the target
poverty groups so that they can participate more
productively and competitively in the economic
development of their communities and/or region. This is
accomplished through a comprehensive, area-based
development program whose major components are community
organization and capability building, productivity
improvement and enterprise development, action research
and policy dialogue, and partnership and constituency
building. Both environment and gender issues formed part
of the project as cross-cutting themes in all the
project activities.
The logic and strategy of the PPSE is as follows:
(a) Implementation of the Comprehensive Enterprise
Development Program in the farming communities is the
cornerstone of the PPSE and the focus of most
activities. This involved the establishment of: (i) an
Anchor Enterprise in each of the farming communities
which will carry out processing and marketing activities
of the major commodity(ies) produced by the community
with strong commercial potential; (ii) development of
the farming systems of individual households into
self-sufficiency and enterprise modules, using the
organic agriculture concepts of diversification,
integration of farm modules, improved seeds and
sustainable soil and water practices; and (iii)
establishment of auxiliary enterprises at the
appropriate levels of the farming community in support
of the Anchor Enterprises and the economic activities of
individual farming households. Enterprise development is
supported by research and development activities that
respond to the technology and marketing requirements of
the household farms and community enterprises.
(b) The Enterprise Development Program is supported by
an Institution-Building Program with the twin components
of training and organizing. Training activities are
aimed towards strengthening the institutional capacities
of the NGOs and POs in the farm estates. Women were
targeted as participants in the training program.
Organizing activities involved the establishment of a
multi-tiered structure to implement and coordinate
enterprise activities within the farming community.
Emphasis is placed on the establishment of an
institution to own and manage the anchor enterprise(s),
e.g., a for-profit corporation/ cooperative whose
stockholders would include, at least initially, all
interested NGOs and POs.
(c) The area-based program is be supported further
through a Campaign to Build a Favorable Policy and
Institutional Environment through: (i) management
research and popular education to identify and
disseminate best practices and standards in sustainable
enterprise development; setting of field-level standards
for sustainable enterprise development in terms of
products, inputs, processes and volumes of outputs; (ii)
participatory policy analysis and advocacy of specific
recommendations and proposals to effect changes in local
government policy and programming; and representation of
farm estate NGOs/POs in local development councils
(d) In support of the Philippine-based PPSE activities,
a Program to Mobilize and Institutionalize Canadian
Support was implemented in Canada to: (i) identify and
negotiate with Canadian groups that can provide the
resources required by the PPSE farming communities; (ii)
identify possible Canadian markets for high-value
products of PPSE farming communities; and (iii) build
institutional alliances between farm estate NGOs/POs and
Canadian resource groups.
Originally designed as a four-year project from
1997-2001 and completed in 2004, (a total of seven
years), PPSE is expected to deliver the following key
results/ outputs:
1. Increased productivity and income for 3,500 families
in five farming estates, and employment in new off-farm
enterprises for another 1,000 rural residents. Some
21,000 people in rural areas are expected to benefit
directly (improved income, employment, well-being, or
access to credit) as a result of the project.
2. Greater participation by women as farmers;
agricultural technicians; workers, managers and owners
in rural enterprises; and community leaders.
3. Strengthened capacity of target groups to plan,
implement and control more appropriate and integrated
production, marketing, financial and marketing systems
for farm and off-farm enterprises at the household and
community levels.
4. Established larger-scale rural enterprises for more
cost-effective and efficient vertical and horizontal
integration.
5. Increased participation of farmers and rural
organizations in policy monitoring, development and
dialogue at the local, national and international
levels.
6. Better policy and institutional environments to
facilitate replication of area-based development
programs.
7. More joint ventures in sustainable enterprise
involving NGOs, cooperatives, Universities, private
companies, private banks and governmental agencies in
the Philippines and Canada.
8. Increased involvement by Canadian companies,
institutions and NGOs in economic and business
development initiatives in the Philippines.
9. More networking and linkages between government
agencies, local government units, local and
international research and academic institutions,
international and multilateral funding agencies and
private sector organizations in the Philippines and
Canada.
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