THESE 562 Filipinos, mostly Aeta farmers, have succeeded in maintaining an area of some 50 kilometer by 20 kilometers land area free of chemicals and certified organic by Control Union, an international certification agency. These simple but hard-working farmers contribute greatly to the Philippine economy.
The German importers and customers are now waiting anxiously and impatiently for the Profairtrade farmers’ organic banana chips. The trial order of 10,000 packages has been placed with Profairtrade Development Enterprise (PDE) and these cannot be produced and exported because there is no available organic white sugar in the Philippines for small scale producers to buy. The export order will be lost, jobs cancelled and perhaps a loss of confidence in the Philippine government. This will not happen because it is a challenge for the ever alert, aware and very helpful Pablo Luis S. Azcona of the Sugar Regulatory Administration. The challenge for Pablo is to help PDE find a way to buy 30 sacks of white organic sugar for the project.
If the ever-helpful Assistant Secretary Atty. Agaton Teodoro O. UveroI of the Philippine Fair Trade Group (FTG) will respond and assist to help the farmers sell their bananas, we can produce the organic banana chips before the order is canceled. The office and team of Atty. Agaton Teodoro O. Uve will protect the small-time producers of banana chips from discrimination and give them access to white organic sugar, which the Philippines does not produce unlike India. Then, there will be hope for social justice and fairness for the small- and medium-sized producers to make and export their products.
The long-term future of the European Union market is for organic food produce. A search of the internet revealed that total imports of organic agri-food products in the EU have increased from 2.79 million metric tons in 2020 to 2.87 million metric tons in 2021 (+2.8%). The EU remains a major importer of organic agri-food products,
Germany and the Netherlands imported the most organic products in 2021. The future of exports to the EU will have to be organic. This is a great challenge to the Philippines as the EU is getting ready to pass new laws demanding more fruit imports to be organic. The demand for coconut milk is increasing also. If there is any coconut corporation in the Philippines with EU standard certified organic coconut milk/cream for sale, there is a standing order for 40,000 330ml tetra packs waiting to be fulfilled. This is a test order for the German market that will surely grow. If there is a supplier interested, please contact this column shaycullen@gmail.com.
Let’s do all we can to help the Filipino coconut and banana organic farmers and help lift up the poor to a healthier more prosperous life with fair trade and justice./PN
