‘Trust and respect’ nourishes the success of interfaith rice farming in the Philippines
Liton Cooperative, Kibales, Magatos Irrigation Association (LKM-IA) has been supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Food and Agriculture Organization) with funding from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
These communities live just a few hundred meters apart near Kabacan in the central island of Midanao, an area that has seen separatist violence for years and is now moving towards a more significant degree of community autonomy. Muslims are the majority.
In front of International Day of Cooperatives Marked annually on July 1, UN News’ Daniel Dickinson traveled to Kabacan and met two members of the LKM-IA, Treasurer Marcializa Calud, a Christian, and Mona Usman, a Muslim and auditor.
Marcializa Calud: The association started in 2015 with just 250 pesos ($4) and last year our income was $1.65 million ($28,000). Careful planning and management have helped us grow and this has been reinforced with support from KOICA and Food and Agriculture Organization including seed fertilizer as well as machinery.
Marcializa Calud stands in front of the new rice mill.
Mona Usman: The association receives machinery for each step of the rice planting and harvesting process; rotary machines to plow fields, combine harvesters to bring in rice, and milling machines to process rice.
Marcializa Calud: Rental machinery to our members has increased productivity significantly. It takes a whole day to plow a one-hectare field by hand with a water buffalo, but only an hour using a plow.
Harvesting rice by hand in the same field takes about two days, but using a combine harvester only takes one to two hours. My income from harvesting rice has increased from 20,000 pesos ($340) to 24,000 pesos ($410), which is a significant amount.
Mona Usman: Before the cooperative existed, we had to rent a combine harvester from a private lender and they took 10% of the crop value as payment, while we kept 90%.
Mona Usman and her family.
Since we formed the cooperative and bought our own harvesters, nine percent goes to the association, and now each farmer gets 91 percent. That extra percent makes a big difference. Meanwhile, with our contribution, the association can pay for the irrigation we need because our crops are not rain-fed.
Marcializa Calud: What we are most worried about is water access because we are downstream from other communities.
During the recent El Nino climate events when there is less water, we have to negotiate with our upstream neighbors to release enough water for our needs. Fortunately, we are making good progress so this is not an issue, but climate change is still a concern for all rice growers because the crop grows in wet rice fields.
Rice milled by Liton Irrigation Association, Kibales, Magatos.
Mona Usman: We are an association and we represent two religions, Islam and Christianity. My grandfather was a Muhajadeen who fought for our country. He later became a devout man and welcomed Christian settlers to Bangsamoro, the predominantly Muslim part of the southwestern part of Mindanao.
So there is trust and respect between communities because of this historical connection.
Mosque in Liton.
Marcializa Calud: We rarely talk about this being a Christian and Muslim association. Our ancestors respected each other’s religion and culture, so we never quarreled. Today, my children play with Mona’s sons and daughters.
Mona Usman: The perception of those who believe that Christians and Muslims cannot get along is wrong. There was no conflict but only mutual respect and this is the legacy we have passed on to our children and their classmates.
Church in Kibales.
Marcializa Calud: There is a saying among the farmers here that when the harvest comes, we speak English. We say the words, “short, failed, overdraft.” Short, because after we had paid all our expenses, we were short of money, failed, because another harvest did not bring enough money, and overdrafted, because we needed to borrow money to live. However, with new machinery, this is no longer the case and we are making money.
Mona Usman: We are making progress in this community, but it is still difficult to balance revenue and expenditure. We want to ensure that everyone in the community has access to health care, their children go to school, and they eat three meals a day. And above all, we want peace.
