Fernando Cruz
| Organization type | University |
|---|---|
| Country | Philippines |
This member participated in the following Forums
Forum Forum: "ICT and producer organizations" November, 2012
Question 4 (opens 20 Nov.)
In Barangay Decabobo, Coron, Palawan, Philippines, while husbands are busy farming or fishing, plain housewives gathered themselves and discussed how to augment their family income. The result was the formation of a duly registered group which teaches them how to create handicrafts. The same group pays the women their products. The same group markets these products to tourist shops in town center. Their objective was met. ICT through mobile phone use linked these women facilitating them to address their concerns. ICT use still come handy if there are meetings called, updates to members and new information disseminated.
Question 3 (opens 19 Nov.)
Dear Dolores,
I concur with your observation on the role of the private sector in tackling societal problems, notwithstanding ICT in agricultural sector. The private sector had been in the past a good partner of the government and other private sector groups in solving problems and addressing concerns.
However, I limited my response below to public sector involvement as that what the question warrants.
Regards,
Andy
The public, both government sector and people’s organisations must act as facilitators in creating a favourable atmosphere for ICT development so that producer organisations would benefit the most out of it to increase, sustain and improve productions in agriculture.
Favourable atmosphere would entail appropriate political agenda and its concommitant legislations that would allow and guarantee free usage and access to ICT technologies. It may also include support to the provision of technical groundwork for internet-based public services.
Question 2 (opens 14 Nov.)
From our experience in Busuanga Island where fishing is still a major industry after tourism, producer organizations like Kawil-Amianan, an association of lawful live fish traders invested in ICT for security purposes by establishing networks of surveillance posts to monitor illegal fishers which greatly impact their own livelihood. Mobile phones became very handy as almost everybody knows how to operate one. Handheld VHF radios work in areas where there are weak mobile phone signal or no signal at all. The use of GPS also increase accuracy and thus security of fishing operations. ICT to increase productivity in fishing may entail fish finders but these are availed only by bigger and more financially capable fishing operators.
Question 1 (opens 12 Nov.)
Hello Bry, I agree with your position on the matter and must I add a very important approach in this direction. That is, the use of popular language or the simple non technical tone which can be easily understood by even the poorest farmers marginalized in education.
This is what knowledge should be. Free and available to all...
Sir Sandy, I remember Ka Louie Tabing being here not so long ago. His visit was followed up with a Community Radio Broadcasting Training. They indeed put up a community radio in Coron but I’m not really sure if it is part of the Tambuli Project as this one was funded by the National Nutrition Council. The station was initially located inside the compound of the Palawan State University - Coron Campus but was eventually moved out to the town proper for better audience reception. I participated in the workshop and was actually allotted airtime for my own program (General Information). Indeed, there were segments allotted for farmers and fishermen. In this sense, ICT was serving its purpose of reaching out to the grassroot farmers and fishermen. But still, even with this initiative, self-sufficiency with rice and vegetables production has sadly not been achieved.
Busuanga Island in the Northernmost tipt of the Province of Palawan in the Philippines is a bio-diversity area with rich marine fishing grounds. Divided between the Municipalities of Coron and Busuanga, it is its rice, fruit and vegetable production self-sufficiency that continue to be a major problem despite efforts concerted by the government.
Seed dispersion, water irrigation, bank loans and trainings had been conducted over and over in the past – to no avail. The Borac and the Dipuyai Plains are two areas which can provide self-sufficiency in rice production but remained either idle or under utilized resulting to the heavy importation of rice, fruits and vegetables from nearby provinces and the national capital Manila.
Technology transfer, since the age of VHS to CDs to Power Point Presentations only serve the purpose of the organizers and remained irrelevant to the poor farmers who cannot afford devices to view, study and eventually adopt the knowledge imparted through new technologies.
Lately, the formation of farmer cooperatives initially took off with still relative results. Where does the problem lie?