By: ROBERTO J.BRAÑA
ABSTRACT
Project Malabing Valley (PMV) is a continuing development project in two phases, PMV I and PMV II. Each phase is the start of a new beginning, and a sequel to SUSTAIN the accomplishments of the previous phase. It is not the usual development project package with a terminal life based on funding source. It is a process, which continues to sustain its life through the people’s initiative in the administration of their own community resources and economic destiny.
The Malabing Valley Story is a dream by the people. The people decided what their vision will be, and took the risk on their own in pursuing that vision. It was a dream fulfilled with less intervention from the outside at the start. It was a dream initiated by Mr. Alfonso Namujhe, Jr. who shared it to his fellow Ifugaos.
Malabing Valley used to be a virtually unknown, unreachable Bugkalot domain settled by the hardy Ifugaos. The six barangays of Malabing Valley namely Tadji, Binogawan, Wangal, Malabing, Papaya and Kapisaan are nestled between the Palali and Mamparang mountain ranges on the eastern side of Nueva Vizcaya. There were no roads and the almost impassable river trails can only be traversed by six-by-six trucks and the reliable “weapon carriers.” Most villagers travel in a number of days due to inundated rivers. Government agency presence was almost nil except Kasibu municipal service agencies. But the climate is conducive for citrus growing, warm during the day and cool at night. (Namujhe, pers.comm.).
Project Malabing Valley started when the Agricultural Education Outreach Project (AEOP) adopted Malabing Valley as one of its Barangay Development Laboratories (BDL) in the late 80’s. Eventually, when AEOP was institutionalized as a regular program of the Nueva Vizcaya State University, then Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology, NVSU continued to provide extension-coordination in partnership with various government and non-government organizations.
The fruition of the Malabing Dream was the establishment of the citrus industry, the impact of which made Malabing the citrus bowl of Nueva vizcaya and Region 02. Present daily production is approximately 50 tons of fresh mandarins, coming from Malabing Valley to lowland markets. This is based only on Malabing Valley Multipurpose Cooperative estimates of volume being traded at their Solano terminal. This excludes the big growers who have their own marketing arms. In 2002, there were 438 ha planted to citrus in the six barangays of Malabing, but a 2004 survey showed that this increased to 792 hectares. This approximates an almost 100% expansion rate. A recent study showed that there are now 296 citrus growers with the majority averaging production yields between 10 to 20 tons. Others are producing 40 tons and above.
Project Malabing Valley proved, among others, that:
First, the presence of a good leader who can inspire a core group of young visionaries, is a critical factor in the development of the community. Outside agencies, no matter how sincere they are; no matter how much money they have- can never substitute for a SOUL which the people can consider one of their own. The Ifugaos are patriarchal and clannish.
Second, the people are the ones who should decide what is good for themselves.
Third, outreach assistance at the start should serve only as impetus.
Fourth, a project must benefit the whole community and not just a pilot group of favored individuals.
Fifth, the existence of a rural organization capable of providing a catch basin for the people’s aspirations and entrepreneurial activities is one of the factors of success in Malabing Valley. The Malabing Valley Multipurpose Cooperative served as the vehicle for unity and change in the community.
Sixth, Project Malabing Valley proved that the young people who had pursued higher education will opt to remain in the village when provided the right condition and atmosphere to embark on worthwhile projects which will provide them good income. It is noteworthy to note that a good number of college graduates are now manning their own orchards, the schools, the central nursery and the cooperative in the valley.
INTRODUCTION
Project Malabing Valley started when the Agricultural Education Outreach Project (AEOP) adopted Malabing Valley as one of its Barangay Development Laboratories (BDL) in the late 80’s. Eventually, when AEOP was institutionalized as a regular program of the University, then Nueva Viscaya State Institute of Technology, NVSU continued to provide extension- coordination in partnership with various government and non-government organizations.
Malabing Valley used to be a virtually unknown, unreachable Bugkalot domain settled by the hardy Ifugaos. The 6 barangays of Malabing Valley namely Tadji. Binogawan. Wangal, Malabing, Papaya and Kapisaaa are nestled between the Palali and Mamparang mountain range on the eastern side of Nueva Vizcaya. There were no roads and the almost impassable river trails can only traversed by six-by-six trucks and the reliable “weapons carriers.” Most villagers have to travel for a number of days due to inundated rivers. Government agency presence were almost nil except for the Kasibu municipal service agencies. But the climate is conducive for citrus growing, warm during the day and cool at night. (Namujhe, pers.comm.). It was NVSU- AEOP which made first contacts with the first generation of farmers who wanted to embark on citrus growing.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Development was described by Korten (1990) as a process in which the members of a society increase their personal and institutional capacities to mobilize and manage their own resources to produce sustainable and justly distributed improvements in their quality of life consistent with their own aspirations.
Navarro (1993) enumerated the concerns of the primary components of a people powered model of development administration as follows:
Increased People’s Capacity. Strengthening people’s access of and control over the means of production.
Equity. Establishing allocative mechanisms for the broad distribution of economic opportunities/outputs within communities.
Empowerment. Facilitating people’s decision making, resource generation, autonomy interest articulation and policy advocacy.
Sustainability. Enabling the people to initiate and implement community-based development/livelihood programs/projects even with minimum external reliance. Agriculture matters. It matters because it produces the food that feeds people and provides most of the job and incomes on which the world’s most vulnerable people depend. Small-scale agriculture matters above all else because it is the base of survival for the poor and a key part of overcoming poverty. It matters because the absence of a viable agricultural sector makes it less attractive to stay in the rural areas; it matters because it can stem the drift to towns and cities. (Madely 2002) .
Dr. Lane Holdcroft, USAID Project Officer, wrote in the maiden issue of the AEOP News (1981) that it is essential for rural development programs to have an income producing “center piece” and the other components will just come later.
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK
Project Malabing Valley followed the AEOP Paradigm for community and agricultural development. Its strategy is the strengthening of the agricultural education capability of the state colleges, enabling them to innovate agricultural education outreach approaches to effect development within their service areas.
One of these strategies is the Barangay Development Laboratories in which a village or a cluster of villages are adopted by the academic institution as development areas. Students and or graduates of the schools establish development/entrepreneural projects in the villages with the support of a loan fund. The organization of peoples organizations in the villages is also one of the features of the BDLs. Trainings relevant to the needs of the community are held to prime-pump promotion of potential agricultural commodity projects from which an industry can be built upon. (AEOP Project Implementation Plan, 1980.)
AEOP is a partnership between the community and the academe. Estension is one of the trilogy of functions of a state college or university. Outreach services provided by the academe become an instrument to reach the far-flung barangays, and to augment the deficiency of access of undermanned government extension services. As in the case of the Palawan National Agricultural College, their Bayanihan Schools System was integrated into the AEOP BDLs.
As envisioned in the Project Paper of the AEOP, the inflow of educated people into the rural mainstream to work on development projects was expected to reverse the trend of out-migration from the villages. The AEOP strategy is to assist VISIONARIES and DOERS in a community to inspire and encourage their fellow inhabitants. In Malabing Valley, many college graduates and the professionals opted to stay in the farms or came back to start citrus groves, finding it more profitable than seeking menial employments in the cities and elsewhere.
