Trust is organic

I was reading literature on Organic Farming and the high cost of third-party certification which prevents farmers from trying to even qualify for such papers that consumers are not even aware of. The education and awareness about “What is Organic?” is very low, even after the Organic Law was passed in 2010. The law states that 2 percent of the national budget must be earmarked for organic agriculture.

The law was amended to include Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) or a mechanism where you ask a group of farmers to work on trust basis among and between themselves that they indeed guarantee each others’ organic practices. Ultimately, a certification is only as good as who issued it and when. Because after certification, anything could happen to the farm. So I personally go by the age-old practice of knowing your farmer, or growing what you need for your household and selling the excess.

Back in 2004, after an organic conference we attended in Uganda, we undertook a certification process for two coffee farms in Benguet. Both underwent a two-year process under the sponsorship of German NGO GIZ (formerly called DED) and our foundation. I am happy to know that almost 20 years hence, the Benguet State University coffee farm is still organic and would pass any international standard because of the stewardship of Prof. Val Macanes. Today, the coffee farm will be the site of our agroforestry training under Naturland, also a German association of organic farmers globally. Together with Philippine Coffee Board and another non-profit, ECHOsi Foundation, we will again train coffee farmers to grow organic coffee and other crops.

As I was catching up on readings for our Organic Agriculture class in UP Open University, I reviewed my knowledge of laws leading to what the state of organic agriculture is in the country today. Sadly, the market for organic products is usually people diagnosed with disease and their relatives and people of higher income (because they can afford the premium of about 10 percent over conventional produce). Majority of the population still do not care to choose organic due to challenges in accessing these produce and also the claim of higher costs.