Profairtrade Development Enterprise (PDE) delivers German fair trade assistance
Hundreds of farmers organized into an association of Organic Fair Trade Farmers and their families in 16 communities in Zambales received substantial assistance through a project of the German relief agency GIZ, implemented by the Profairtrade Development Enterprise (PDE) of which Fr. Shay Cullen is the proprietor, and Preda Foundation provided staff complement. These marginalized farmers produce mango fruits among other crops and have EU standard organic certification for their mango produce recognized by Control Union and Naturland. This is rare and a valuable organic certification status because the mango puree produced from their fruit is used in many food products and they are sold as organic and fair trade in Germany.
Because of climate change and typhoons, the farmers had very poor harvests in recent years. These typhoons ravaged their villages and damaged their houses made of light materials, vegetable gardens and water supply. As a help to them, the German people through GIZ and PDE gave them generous relief assistance including bags of rice, groceries, farm tools, potable water projects, seedlings and fruit tree saplings.
The farmers are very happy to sell their pico, carabao and Indian mangoes to PDE, a fair trade enterprise, for high fair trade prices, which they would not get from commercial buyers. Besides receiving the high fair trade payments for the mangoes, the upland farmers also receive dividends or fair trade premium payments from PDE, depending on how many kilos of mangoes each farmer sells to PDE. The mangoes are processed in an organic-certified processing plant in Bulacan and made into mango puree or pulp, then packed and sealed in large bags and placed in 55-gallon steel drums and loaded in a container for shipment to the fair trade partners and customers in Germany.
In Germany, the fair trade organization Welt Partner that imports the mango puree of the farmers makes different products for distribution to World Shops (Welt Laden) across Germany. The earnings of the PDE go to pay the dividends/premium payments to the farmers and contribute to the development assistance projects for the farmers. The surplus earnings are donated to the Preda children’s homes that help child victims of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking.
PDE project managers, Donard Angeles and Roger Hermogino, planned and implemented the project over eight months in 2023 and made extensive photo-documentation at every stage of the purchase and distribution of the goods to the farmers and their families. The project is strictly monitored and accounted for, according to the internal control system and reporting guidelines by the PDE Administration and Accounting Office headed by Mrs. Mabelle Facturanan.
During the distribution period, the PDE team with guest speakers also conducted human rights education on child marriage, child rights, women rights and ancestral land rights, informing the people using methods and presentations easily understood by them, many of whom are illiterate. The people became aware of their rights and duties and obligations to protect and educate their children.
The PDE distributed food packs to a total of 562 farmers, of whom 149 are women. Each package of assistance contained 37.5 kilos of rice, 25 cans of sardines, 40 pieces of noodles, six packs of coffee and five packs of sugar. That is a total of 421.5 cavans of rice, 14,050 sardines, 22,480 packs of noodles, 3,372 coffee and 2,820 packs of sugar.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
A total of 562 farmers received school supplies for their children ( 149 female & 413 male). Each school package contains 10 notebooks, one intermediate pad, one ball pen and one portfolio for a total of 5,620 notebooks, 562 intermediate pads, 562 ballpen and 562 portfolio.
FRUIT TREE SAPLINGS
A total of 540 farmers (154 females & 386 males) received 695 calamansi and 800 rambutan tree saplings.
WATER SYSTEM PROJECT
Two (2) Aeta communities, particularly Ibad in San Marcelino and Maporac in Cabangan, received a complete set of water systems with a capacity of 2,600 liters stainless steel water tanks. Seventy-three families will; benefit from these two water system projects (51 families in Ibad and 22 families in Maporac)
These projects are continuing with the help of other charitable support agencies and World Shops in Austria and Germany. They will be the subject of another report in the weeks ahead.
The Preda-PDE team
November 2023
