Just like Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI), there are various organizations and programs in the country that aim to uplift the lives of Filipinos. The Foundation engages in meaningful partnerships with these forces to deliver programs that improve the quality of lives across the country.
One partnership that has recently helped communities is that with Angat Buhay.
Angat Buhay is a project of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to fight against poverty and address the needs of families in the farthest and poorest communities in the country. Since 2017, Angat Buhay has partnered with PSFI to promote Integrated Farming Bio-Systems to different farming communities under its OMASENSO sa KABUHAYAN program.
This year, the partnership gave way to 2 interventions: livelihood trainings, and farm equipment & material support. The training sessions on mushroom production, cut flower production, and food processing aim to upskill the farmers on technologies that can help them earn supplemental income.
Sprouting means for food production and additional income, the mushroom production and processing training was both useful and profitable for farmers. The upskilling training helped participants learn the production of spawns, how to use fruiting bags, care, maintenance of mushroom fruiting media, inoculation, as well as its processing and marketing.
Spearheaded by PSFI, this was conducted in collaboration with experts from the Department of Agriculture Region V over a 2-day session. A total of 41 Omasenso sa Kabuhayan beneficiaries benefited from the sessions.
For those who showed interest in earning from flowers, the cut flower production was held. This training taught participants the correct practices in growing and arranging cut flowers. The training tackled topics such as soil and nutrition, cultural practices, flower initiation and development, harvest, and post-harvesting, just to name a few.
Similar to the mushroom production training, this was also conducted by the Department of Agriculture for 2 days. A total of 32 beneficiaries were supported by the training.
The food processing training provided attendees with skills and knowledge on processing products such as banana, squash, camote, ginger, and hot pepper. Furthermore, this capacitated the farmers in processing vegetables through value-adding products, stabilizing the quality, extending shelf life, and improving the nutritional quality of the food. It also minimizes the agricultural waste in case of an oversupply. This food processing training supported 21 attendees over the course of 2 days.
To help farmers enhance their productivity and sustain their farm operations, PSFI provided farm equipment and material inputs support. 11 farmers associations and cooperatives from Camarines Sur received equipment like water pumps, tunneling film, preformation irrigation straws, culture nets, and hog mesh wires just to name a few.
The training sessions on mushroom production, cut flower production, and food processing aim to further strengthen OMASENSO sa KABUHAYAN communities. Through programs like these, Angat Buhay aims to promote sustainable practices and upskill Filipinos, addressing the anti-poverty framework of the OVP. Ultimately, the goal is to uplift and empower the lives of Filipino families living in the margins.
Through the years, PSFI has partnered with numerous organizations and programs that help uplift the lives of Filipinos. There’s still more work to be done in moving the Filipino forward, and the Foundation is set in searching for the right partners to achieve progress.