THE Dama Farm Workers Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (Dafwarba) in Barangay Cabacungan, La Castellana town, has been getting a boost by linking their sugarcane products to Alter Trade Corporation (ATC) for muscovado exportation.
Dafwarba president Daniel Diamante, who spoke during the organization’s 15th Anniversary celebration on Monday, June 4, said they started the partnership with ATC in 2003.
Diamante said with an annual quota of 2,000 tons of sugarcane processed as muscovado by ATC, the group’s produce started to be exported in 2008 with markets in Europe and Korea.
After three years, it was able to acquire fair trade certification. It has enabled Dafwarba to earn about P2-million worth of fair trade premium since 2012.
“Using the fair trade premium, we were able to implement projects like the purchase of tractor and truck as well as renovation of multipurpose center,” he said, adding that Dafwarba is also working on expanding its sugarcane farm by 30 hectares.
Of which, 10 hectares will be funded using a portion of their fair trade premium while the remaining 20 hectares are through capital build-up.
Dafwarba was organized as an agrarian reform beneficiaries organization (Arbo) on June 4, 2003.
Composed of 66 farmer-members holding 27 certificates of land ownership award (Cloas), the association currently owns a total of 78 hectares of land.
Of which, 41 hectares are sugarcane, 26 hectares for the forest, and 10 hectares devoted to rice production.
“With the support of the local government and private organizations like Alter Trade, we are optimistic to expand and increase our production,” Diamante said.
The fair trade premium of P0.80 per kilogram of exported muscovado is on top of Dafwarba’s sale of its sugarcane products sold to the company, ATC vice president Arnel Ligahon explained.
“It has helped the group in their community projects,” Ligahon said, adding that the fair trade premium cannot be divided by among the members as the fair trade standard stated that “it should be used for community development.”
For her part, Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Mangilimutan, who was also present at the activity, said Dafwarba is a strong agrarian reform organization already with success story worthy to be emulated by other Arbos in the locality.
Nicor-Mangilimutan said aside from farm development interventions, one project the Municipal Government is planning to implement for the organization is potable water system.
“We have an initial allocation P2 million for a systematized potable water system intended for Barangay Cabacungan, which is positioned to really benefit the farmer-members and other residents,” she said, urging farmer-beneficiaries to “take care and propagate the projects extended by the local government and other partner-stakeholders.”