Call for a paradigm shift

Credit to Author: MAYLENE STEPHANIE S. VIRAY| Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2019 19:09:50 +0000

Boosting cooperativism in all sectors for sustainable economic growth

IN the light of threats to agriculture such as the ill-effects of climate change, not to mention poverty in general, cooperativism has been deemed as a strong solution to most of the country’s woes.

Today, the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) celebrates its 29th founding anniversary with the theme “Forging strategic alliances for cooperative development.”

On its 29th year, CDA strengthens its presence across all sectors to reiterate its battle cry: Transformative Cooperative for People, Planet, Prosperity, and Peace.

CDA officials, officers and employees strictly confirm to the CDA Quality Policy and Performance Pledge with the goal of improving service delivery in the name of transparency, accountability and quality service.

CDA Chairman Orlando Ravanera calls on all Filipinos to adopt a cooperative power where “no one shall be left behind,” as he puts it.

“Sustainable future would mean a new mindset, there will be a paradigm shift from one that is so exclusive growth to one that is inclusive,” Ravanera adds. “Cooperativism is paradigm shift from unsustainable to sustainable development, from unsustainable future to sustainable future. It will begin with the mind-setting.”

CDA Chairman Orlando Ravanera calls on all Filipinos to adopt acooperative power where ‘no one shall be left behind.’

Sustainability practices

The Philippines, as an agricultural country, should be the leading beneficiary of land and crops. Ravanera, however, says the situation of agriculture in the country is a paradox anchored as it is on a capitalistic mindset and the presence of middlemen.

“The present development paradigm is now crashing down,” Ravanera says, referring to capitalism as he points out that only one percent of the global population is benefitting from the system.

He adds, “We are a very agricultural country, (but) it is quite a paradox that we cannot even have self-sufficiency on basic staples […] through cooperativism, we can have that!”

Gawad Parangal is an award and recognition program of CDA, one of the flagship programs of the agency which started in 2011.

Hence, CDA’s agricultural cooperatives have shifted from conventional agriculture to sustainable agriculture where the land produces the country’s basic food staples—such as pineapples, bananas, and taro—with the use of organic substances.

Ravanera, who also sits as co-chair of the Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives for Asia and the Pacific (Nedac), shares that CDA has helped 1,062 agrarian reform cooperatives by providing technical assistance such as registration and rehabilitation of cooperatives, issuance of Certificate of Compliance (COC), partnerships, and audit subsidy.

Meanwhile, as regards climate change, CDA recently partnered with the Climate Change Commission which focuses on climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Last year, the Visayas-based PH Haiyan Advocacy Cooperative and the CDA-Tacloban Extension Office gathered various stakeholders in a Visayas Cooperative Conference to raise awareness on the possible threats brought by climate change.

Dubbed “Cooperative Efforts in Action: A Response to Climate Change,” the conference was designed to link science with policy and practice, assessing actions that various sectors can jointly undertake to ward off the perilous effects of climate change.

“We believe that it is now time for us to control climate change,” Ravanera emphasizes.

Empowering farmers

For CDA, cooperativism is a social justice measure that will enable Filipinos to become self-sufficient and gain control over external forces.

With this in mind, the agency aims to empower Filipinos by harnessing their collective potential and binding them as one cooperative.

“We will educate our people on the basic, very elementary-modules on environment,” Ravanera vows.

He cites the case of the Cagayan de Oro-based cooperative where about 200,000-hectares of land were rehabilitated by CDA and dairy products are being produced by cooperative members of the area.

In partnership with the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), CDA has extended its training program to the cooperative of indigenous people who are now producing, packing, and selling taro roots for a living.

Moreover, under the partnership contract which was signed in 2018, CDA and NCIP shall provide for the orderly promotion, organization, registration, development and regulation of all types of cooperatives organized by and among Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs), taking into consideration their unique culture, tradition, customary laws and practices, within or outside ancestral domains.

Supporting soldiers

CDA has also extended its aid to the wounded soldiers of the Marawi siege that took place from May 23 to October 23, 2017.

A newly-established cooperative, the Wounded Soldiers Agricultural Cooperative (WSAC), now has a new assignment:battling poverty for economic sustainability.

Now part of the mission of these soldiers is to be involved in agriculture projects. Specifically, WSAC has engaged in producing dairy products.

For its part, the Department of National Defense provided a five-hectare land in Batangas to be transformed into an agri-tourism farm.

The Department of Agriculture is also providing P1.5-million funding for livestock supply.

Ravanera encourages people to buy local, in support of the livelihood of the cooperatives as well as to boost the country’s economic growth.

“This is our message: a country that is consuming what it is not producing will only entail us a slow growth,” he warns. “That is the reality— not everyone knows that what has prevailed is an exclusive growth… What we want is inclusive growth.”

Coop for the energy sector

In addition to agriculture, the development authority has likewise established cooperatives at the energy sector.

Formally called One Mindanao Energy Cooperative, the project has been making use of renewable energy sources such as solar and hydropower. The move is in line with the coop’s vision to be “leading in the development of renewable energy resources, co-owned by empowered cooperatives for sustainability of Mindanao — one.”

“Enough is enough of the use of toxic chemicals, enough is enough of fossil fuel,” Ravanera stresses.

He adds that cooperativism is the answer for three reasons: 1, it is members-owned; 2, it is value-based; and 3, it is sustainable.

Roadmap to 2022

To highlight the importance of developing mutually-empowering partnerships, the agency formulated the 2018-2022 Philippine Cooperative Development Plan (PCDP).

The plan, which is a result of multi-sectoral efforts, focuses on sustained efforts to address needs, problems, and poverty at its roots. It attempts to address not only the lack of material resources or income, but also the absence of capabilities, opportunities, and power that will allow citizens to fully assume their role as members of the community.

PCDP envisions to work “towards a globally competitive and resilient cooperative industry for a progressive nation.”

As such, the PDCP lists its strategic goals to achieve its collective vision, which includes:

• Enhanced Policy, Regulatory Environment and Partnerships;

•Improved Institutional Development, Governance and Management;

• Sustained Human Capital Development among Cooperatives;

• Globally Competitive Cooperative Products and Services;

• Increased Access to Finance; and

• Increased Access to Markets and Infrastructure

The realization of the collective vision and strategic goals of the cooperative sector will contribute to the societal goal of poverty reduction and the improvement of the quality of life of the members of cooperatives. Therefore, the operations and governance in the cooperative sector, as well as the relationships between and among the actors, shall be guided by the following principles: a) subsidiarity and complementation, b) circumscribed governance, c) empowerment, d) strategic alliance and critical collaboration and e) accountability.

The formulation of PCDP is pursuant to CDA’s mandate to be the lead agency for the promotion and development of coo peratives and in consonance with its function to formulate, adopt, and implement integrated and comprehensive plans and programs on cooperative development consistent with the national policy on cooperatives and the overall socio-economic development plans of the government.

Scaling the heights

While it pursues sustainability in all its cooperatives, CDA has likewise been ramping up its operations to sustain itself.

From a minimal budget, CDA’s budget has yet to have enough to cope with the broadening of its concerns.

Likewise, CDA recently inked a Joint Memorandum Circular with the Department of Interior and Local Government, mandating local government units to appoint cooperative development officers who will be tasked with Cooperative Promotion, Organization, and Development in the LGUs.

In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order (EO) no. 67, “Rationalizing The Office Of The President Through The Consolidation Of Its Core Mandates And Strengthening The Democratic And Institutional Framework Of The Executive Department.”

Under the EO, eight agencies under the Office of the Cabinet Secretary were transferred to three departments namely Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Through EO 67, CDA was formally transferred to the Department of Trade and Industry headed by Secretary Ramon Lopez.

Ravanera concludes: “Let me be a little poetic: A strong army can conquer a kingdom but the strongest army in the world cannot stop an idea whose time has come. The time for cooperativism has come, and no one can stop it.”

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