𝗖𝗣𝗦𝗨, 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽

Central Philippines State University and Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) are facilitating a Baseline Study workshop with sixteen farmers association on June 5, 2024 at CPSU Main Campus’ RDEC Conference Room.

The Baseline Study workshop for Kabankalan City and Bago City farmers associations is expected to last from June 5 to 7, overseen by CPSU’s Production and Enterprise Development Office Director Dr. Maryvic P. Pedrosa with SEARICE Executive Director Ma’am Normita G. Ignacio.

The initiative forms an integral component of the two-year project titled “Engendering Access for Smallholder Farmers to Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture for Conservation and Sustainable Use”.

This collaborative effort involves CPSU (Central Philippines State University) and SEARICE (Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment), working closely with local farmers’ associations.

SEARICE Visayas program officer, Ms. Olive H. Suello briefed farmers association representatives with the objectives not only of the workshop, but of the project in its entirety as she tackled how the project aims to address major problems of inaccessibility of good adaptable varieties and lack of knowledge and skills in farmers food production systems; to provide an initial source of PGRFAs and use these in building the farmers’ capacities to develop, select, rehabilitate, or enhance varieties; to encourage traditional and scientific technique applications; to establish in-situ seedbanks; and to equip farmers with the ability to produce PGRFAs according to their own needs.

Participants were engaged in group discussions and presentations as they were tasked to practice the use of Baseline Data Gathering Tools; they illustrated their respective Community Maps which reflect the locations of relevant resources and existing agroecosystems, created Historical Timelines which encapsulate the seed system as influenced by the chronology of events that transpired in their community’s history, and illustrated Problem Trees to identify and connect causes leading to existing problems and the consequences in their locality.

Other Baseline Data Gathering tools that the participants made were the Diversity wheel which is auxiliary in determining the availability of seeds in their respective areas, Pairwise Ranking which is useful in pointing priorities in plant and crop choices.

More sessions are expected to transpire in the schedules mentioned.