This workshop was well attended by 61 value chain actors from Surigao del Norte, Butuan City, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur and Batangas Province. Although its primary focus was for actors within Surigao del Norte, its actual impact and participation is essentially at the Caraga Region level. Over a period of one and a half days, four interconnected workshops were delivered, and all were well supported by the enthusiastic and energetic participants who took the opportunity to share and plan together.

Winrock International-Philippine Cold Chain ProjectChief of Party Nic Richards opened the two-day activity.The workshop aimed to explore the journey of the swine industry of Surigao del Norte, guided with the following framework:

1. Where are we now?2. Where are we going to?3. Following the journeys of others4. What will be our vehicle for the journey?

Two major sub-programs under the HEALS plus Development Program have been implemented through the Provincial Veterinary Office: (1) Rabies Education Program and the (2) Serbisyong Panghayop sa Barangay Program

• Includes massive deworming, vitamin supplementation, massive disease screening and diseases treatment

• The PLGU also provides Technical Support:1. Trainings on meat processing for livelihood2. Swine Dispersal Program with the support of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to raise the breeder stocks of

swine in the province3. Genetic Improvement Program (Restocking or Artificial Insemination (AI))

• Completion of the construction of the Provincial Livestock and Poultry Multiplier Farm facilities (breeder animals to sustainlivestock and poultry species multiplication in the farm).

Hon. Melba Garcia, Provincial Board Member & Chairman, Committee on Agriculture

Hog Raisers(21)

MFIs (4)

Agri-input Suppliers(5)

Meat Vendors(3)

LGUs and Government

Agencies(12)

Visitors(8)

Winrock PCCP(13)

Edelmira Luminarias, Department of Agriculture- Caraga, Livestock Coordinator

• Caraga swine production contributes 5.5% to Mindanao and 1.87% to the entire country. Most of the farms are operated in the backyard.

• Caraga ranks second to the last in swine production in the entire country next to ARMM.

• In Caraga, Surigao del Norte ranks third in swine industry after Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur.

• Swine production in the region registered a downtrend from 2011 (31,853 MT) to 2015 (39,589 MT) before it climbed up in 2016 (42,388 MT).

• Livestock is not a priority• Limited supply of quality breeder stocks• Natural calamities and disease outbreaks• Insufficient or limited coverage of extension services

provided by government to farmers• Limited access to financing, especially among

backyard raisers• Low adoption of Artificial Insemination (AI)

technology among backyard raisers• Lack of investors to venture on commercial scale• Lack of processing facilities in feeding stuff

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

Hog production increased

Superior carcass quality attained

Global markets

penetrated

Swine Industry Situation, Department of Agriculture - Caraga

Participants were divided into three groups of mixed actors (input supplier, micro-finance institution, hog raiser, meat vendor, slaughterhouse personnel, government representatives, and others), and they assessed how functions and operators are connected- indirectly or directly, and with high or low influence on transactions and outcomes. Bottlenecks between functions and actors, from inputs to end markets were also identified. These included factors such as the high cost of feeds, low adoption of improved technology, lack of financial sources and unstable market price, among others.

Three different but related versions were created and then assimilated into a Surigao del Norte value chain map. This was a great accomplishment of itself and resulted to a model to plan from and discuss with others across and outside Caraga.

Value chain map: consolidated version

To draw out problems based on identified value chain constraints, participants working again with the same groups, developed problem statements and then linked these to symptoms, causes and root causes of the problem.

Output 1

Output 2

MARKETING

INSUFFICIENT HOG SUPPLY

Output 3

The groups identified three problems: insufficient supply of hogs, hog marketing and high production costs.

• High production cost• Low productivity• Financial support• Pricing mechanism• Hogs importation

• Genetics (low supply of quality semen/boar stock)

• Control of market/farm gate price by middlemen

• Lack of slaughterhouse facility in municipalities• Swine industry not a government priority• Limited production area• Lack of capital• Lack of technological knowledge• Typhon prone area• High loan interest• High cost of feeds, vet products, piglets

The problems thus identified were used as the basis of a visioning exercise that asked, ‘where do we want the swine sector to bein 2022?’ The problems at various levels were used to define objectives developed in five groups based on 1) producers, 2) input suppliers, 3) MFPs, 4) traders and vendors, and 5) government and non-government agencies.

Several focused ideas came out of this, including the need to form an association to control market prices, price control of feeds, extending financial services across the value chain, and vendors and traders to become producers.

• Lower down cost of production by having our own feed mill; encourage the LGUs and government agencies, such as DA to support the farmers to plant raw materials (e.g., corn, soya beans).

• Adopt AI at farmer level; ask training from ATI• Encourage all raisers to produce high quality

hogs• Form an association to control market price

• Market traders participate in swine production to increase volume of production by 30%

• Stabilize market price by creating price control mechanism with LGUs and government agencies

• Have access to micro-financing

• Availability and consistency of supply of high quality feeds

• Follow Suggested Retail Price (SRP)• Provide technical assistance and programs on

upgrading genetic lines through AI trainings; gilt, boar and piglets dispersal programs; feed swapping; contract growers, buyback programs; and pig health program (gestation to weaning)

• Accessible financial institution, provided by the following:

(1) Legitimate association/cooperatives to avail financial support;

(2) The association itself has the right to control to sustain swine production;

(3) The association must have the right training and seminars on swine production

• Extend services to entire value chain players• Extend partnership with Winrock-International

for sustainable Surigao del Norte livelihood program• Boost economic condition of every community of the

province.

• Enhance linkage and interaction with different

sectors in swine industry.

• Sustainable and sufficient volume or production,

meet the demand of local market.

• Superior quality of meat, and eliminated the

hogs/stock importation.

• Enhance the economic status of swine raisers.

• A farmer-led primary producers cooperative from a federation of self-help groups

Agusan del Sur Farmers Producers Cooperative (AFPC)Sta. Josefa, Agusan del SurLuzvisminda Señagan, Chairman

Montañez FarmCarascal, Surigao del SurPerlito Montañez, Proprietor

• Level of production: 20 sowsand 1,400 white leghorn layers

• Uses low cost pig pens• Owns a mini feed mill• Montañez Farm is able to reduce feed cost by

Php5.00/kg against commercial suppliers and save Php705 of daily feeds expenses or Php21,750/month

• It is now an accredited Agricultural Training Institute Learning site.

Caraga Swine Industry (CARSI)Philip dela Victoria, Incorporator

• Among its programs and projects are breeder stocks distribution; trainings (veggie lechon, swine production and management, meat cutting and fabrication, AI training, feed milling/production)

• Database establishment• Biogas digester establishment• CARSI looks forward to increasing swine production in the

region

• It is engaged in household-based swine production• It engaged into feed milling (2,500 kg production

volume/week) and swine breeding enterprises (breeding center, animal drugs and medicines)

• Formed a community agri-vet entrepreneurship or community animal health workers

• It established partnership with the Rizal Microbank for the feeds support loan to identified individual swine raisers (facilitated by WI-PCCP)

• Subsidized feeds support to selected AFPC producer-members

• Facilitates hog marketing

• A federation of swine raisers with 6 incorporators. Memberships come from Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigaodel Sur

Unified Batangas Hog Farmers Inc.(UNIBAT)Pedrito KalawPresident, UNIBAT

UNIBAT’s presentation and interaction was of great value to the participants. They were able to meaningfully and clearly show their approach and pathway of change, from disconnected backyard hog farmers 25 years ago to a billion-peso enterprise today. There were of course many reasons for this but they emphasized the need to take advantage of government support in the form of low or no interest loans, fostering entrepreneurship, adopting good animal husbandry and genetics, applying a strong value chain approach and being unified. UNIBAT as an association covers two cooperatives, 87 commercial farms, feed mills, swine raisers and has strong links to the AAA Slaughterhouse of the LGU Tanauan.

Like other swine farmers, theystarted from humble beginningswith lots of challenges such asabsence of farm consultants whilevery few practice AI, manual feedformulation, absence of automatic feeders,problem of pig housing and farm expansion, and bank loans. At present there are still a lot of challenges amid some improvements:• Entry of new vet, breeders, feed, equipment, suppliers

and diseases• Contract growing scheme• Modern pig production approach• Improved nutrition• Technical smuggling of pork• Frozen pork in wet markets• Entry of foreign players from ASEAN• Free Trade Agreement

To address constraints, UNIBAT looks forward to the future by:

• Provision of quality breeders so backyard raisers can raise their own piglets (development and establishment of multiplier farms, Boar Performance Testing Station at ITPCH)

• Establishment of AI Business Center per District• Reduction of Cost Inputs thru the popularization of

azolla and use of hydrophonics• Formation of cooperatives with support from different

government agencies and other institutions• UNIBAT stressed corporativism as key to their success.

Corporativism is a combination of corporate and cooperative business strategy– an empowerment of ordinary hog farmers

• One of the hog raisers association in Batangas started with Php125,000 contribution per stockholder. They had 15 backyard farmers.

• A Php15M zero interest loan assistance from ACEF led to the modernization of their feed milling equipment.

Their strategy:• Total commitment of member for the growth of the

company• Backyard raisers with minimum investment are

welcome to join• Farm of stockholders are encouraged to be an

experimental area for production testing• Continuous education of customer• Continuous product research and innovation• Investment in laboratory facilities

Dr. Elicer BabeloniaBoard member, UNIBAT

UNIBAT also shared important tips for a successful swine enterprise, namely:• Nutrition (measured by farm efficiency and ADG,

general health of animals, carcass quality)• Management (feeding, cleanliness,

medication and supplementation; environmental temperature; building

design; water requirements; recording; cash flow management; waste water management)

Daniel Keh,Vice-President, UNIBAT

The LGU of Tanauan, Batangas also shared its supportto the city’s local hog industry. One institutional arrangement is for the operation and management of the slaughterhouse facility by an organized non-integrator hog producers to enable growers get maximum value for their produce by slaughtering their own hogs.

One expected output is to lessen the impact of middlemen in the value chain as well as providing import substitute and local source of raw materials for meat processing.

At the farmers level, the facility is expected to enhance farm efficiency and generate value adding activities that will translate to increased level of income among stakeholders of the hogs industry

Dr. Aries Garcia City Veterinarian,Tanauan, Batangas

The last session fell quickly into place after the visioning exercises and outputs. Across the room, the need to form a working group was well supported. Ten participants from across the value chain volunteered to be a part of the group. PCCP advised they would support this group with meeting, transport and venue costs, developing activities and plans, promoting the working group and looking at options for a swine industry group formalization and structure, beyond the life of the working group itself.

• Luzvisminda Señagan – Agusan del Sur Farmers and Producers Cooperative• Mario Oba – Rizal Micro Bank• Dr. Life Sheila Cabillanes – Provincial Veterinary Office (SDN)• Robert J. Baldecir – Swine Raisers Group• Bonifacio Lumbres – SCLPRA• Dr. Maridel Zerda – Surigao City Veterinary Office• Mary Kholeen Cubillos – PILMICO• Jean Ruth Silva – SCLPRA• Rachael Aguaviva – Sinubong VPO Farm• Vincent Philip Chee dela Victoria – CARSI• Samuel Calonzo – Agricultural Training Institute• Department of Agriculture- Caraga

The next steps to take beyond this first highly successful workshop include:

• Support and promote the Swine Industry Caraga Working Group (SICWG)

• Follow up with DOST and ACEF on low interest loans for cooperatives, associations and other formalized groups

• Take advantage of the national government’s current investment focus on Mindanao

• Work with LGUs to enforce ordinance on no backyard slaughter and the cost effectiveness of the slaughterhouses. Promoting slaughterhouses as markets for hog raisers linked to LGU and third party operators and meat shops, cutting plants.

• Promote and support the meat vendors, meat shops and wet markets as cold chain storage points for meat, and raise awareness of food safety and quality issues resulting from hot meat.

• Send the Working Group to Batangas to study the swine industry first hand and learn from UNIBAT in more detail

• Explore UNIBAT’s research program on alternative feed

• Using the SICWG to plan and promote a Caraga Region swine industry summit, for July 2018

• Explore Montañez farm and look at linkages for training, extension and industry clustering

• Explore how we can work with CARSI to have the SICWG coordinate effectively with government livestock programs and planning

• Follow up on SIG needs for piglets and gilts as advertised at the workshop

The Philippine Cold Chain Project (PCCP) is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

and implemented by Winrock International.