Nestle and PROFOREST UK staff visited the Responsible Sourcing from Smallholders (RSS) Project in Negros Occidental. The visit lasted a week which started from September 30 – October 5, 2018. The PROFOREST Team was composed of Rebecca Smalley from UK, Melissa Chin and Jaya Shree Kannaiah both from Malaysia, and Esteban Figueroa from Mexico. The SIFI RSS group was headed by SIFI President Edith Villanueva and RSS Project Manager Judy Gonzaga, and with the assistance of Project Officer Julio Labayen III.
The productive visit generated significant updates and learnings for the team and assisted beneficiaries. Mr. Figueroa also shared his experiences in Mexico with the application of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the field. There was also a meeting with PHILSURIN in Victorias City where High-Yielding Varieties (HYVs) dispersal approach for nurseries was tackled. This mass dispersal of HYVs can play a major role for the increase in productive yield of the sugarcane crop.
A seminar was also conducted for the PAs, Mills, and CRAs in the PPE Training of Trainers of 32 participants at the SIFI Training Center, Talisay City. Effective training techniques on how to promote the proper usage of PPE were provided and the techniques and dynamics of conducting trainings and how to convey the message convincingly was demonstrated. Participants were given the chance to wear the correct PPE gear for chemical spraying, applying fertilizer or the manual harvesting of the canes. The participants were able to develop communication skills and gain more knowledge about PPE.
The team also visited San Antonio Farmers MPC in Barangay 14, Victorias City. They inspected the organic fertilizer and vermin compost business of the coop. The coop has started applying organic fertilizer in demo pots to test their viability. To date, the coop has harvested a total of 8 tons equivalent to 160 bags of organic fertilizer.
The second farm visited by the group was Hacienda San Vicente 1, Brgy. Capitan Ramon, Silay City, home of San Vicente 1 ARC.
A PPE Training Practicum was conducted for 15 laborer residents and its purpose was to train them on how to wear appropriate PPE and how it can provide protection to workers and reduce health hazards and risks. Participants discussed on how to properly disseminate information about PPE and how to wear the gear for long-time protection.
The RSS group also conducted focused group discussions regarding the sugar farm tech sessions, the livelihood support assistance, the effectivity of Community “Tipon-Tipons”, the impact of PPE orientations and usefulness of demo farms.
The final gathering was the RSS Working Group Meeting at the SIFI Training Center on Oct 4, 2018. The guests from Nestle Philippines and PROFOREST were introduced to the RSS Working Group members. The agenda focused on the 2018 action plan implementation by the three mills namely Hawaiian-Philippine Company (HPCo), Victorias Milling Company (VMC), Lopez Sugar Central and SIFI. 2019 directions and plans were introduced followed by an open forum and free-willing discussion from partners on how to improve program performance. Rebecca Smalley of PROFOREST provided updates from the Donor’s perspective and possible next steps for the partners to consider.
