Rice is the Philippines’ most important food crop and a staple food in most of the country. It is produced by two million farmers in four million hectares of land. It is one of the early adaptor countries of the Green Revolution. Impact studies of the Green Revolution revealed that while indeed, productivity and yield increased, farmers’ incomes did not improve. In fact most of them got seriously indebted and because access to credit from formal institutions became restricted, many lost their land to usurers. More seriously, green revolution transformed agriculture in the country from poly-cultures to mono-cultures.

Being aware of the negative economic, health, and environmental impacts of the Green Revolution to the rice farmers, several civil society organizations have intensified the collaboration with scientists to develop more integrated, diversified, organic farming systems in order to uplift rice farmers out of dependencies and poverty. One of these groups was PAKISAMA, a national Confederation of Family Farmers Organizations. This profile focuses on one of the young member organic rice cooperatives: The Agus Pinoy Producers Cooperative (APCO). The cooperative was able, in a short time, to provide members with meaningful services resulting in increased farmers’ social and financial capital, income, food security, health and biodiversity.