LocationsPROACTIVE: Transforming Lives and Promoting Sustainable Peace
September 10, 2024
The journey to Camp Abubakar — a stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) — takes about two hours by car from the center of Cotabato City. The camp is home to one of the communities being supported by the Programme on Assistance for Camp Transformation through Inclusion, Violence Prevention, and Economic Empowerment (PROACTIVE), a project being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the European Union (EU) in the Philippines to help transform the camps into economically productive communities. In August 2024, a team from UNDP visited Camp Abubakar to check on the project implementation and visually inspect some of the facilities that have been erected. The experience was akin to visiting a thriving rural community rather than visiting a “camp” as there were no visible checkpoints or armed or uniformed personnel. One would never imagine that this area was once the site of fierce battles between government forces and MILF combatants.
Upon arrival in Barangay Togaig within Camp Abubakar, the UNDP contingent met with officers and members of the Calagan Women’s Marketing Cooperative (CWMC), a registered women’s cooperative. Through the generous support of the EU, UNDP provided a series of trainings, as well as seedlings and a greenhouse to help CWMC members venture into climate-smart vegetable production. The services of the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA), which is the development arm of the MILF, were tapped to help train the cooperative’s 30 members on Values Transformation, Project Management, Livelihood Skills, and other relevant skills.
The CWMC officers and members expressed their gratitude for the support provided to them. Before PROACTIVE’s interventions, the cooperative was just a typical rural association that was not generating any income. Thanks to their training, they have successfully raised and sold organically grown vegetables, with regular customers including soldiers from the nearby Marine Brigade detachment. They also shared challenges, like excess tomato harvests rotting due to insufficient buyers and an unreliable water source. Despite these issues, they expressed confidence that their vegetable production would thrive even after PROACTIVE ends. Their optimism stemmed from various ongoing developments that will ensure the sustainability of their livelihood, such as the market linkages that are undergoing discussion, the pending installation of a solar-powered pump and two large water tanks, and the planned improvements to their greenhouse. One member excitedly shared that they were looking forward to training in post-harvest processing and receiving equipment to turn excess tomatoes into tomato paste, which they could then sell in the market. “We received an overwhelming amount of help from UNDP," remarked CWMC President Saima Panambolan.
Notably, the CWMC has generated enough income to begin expanding into catfish farming. They were inspired to pursue this after learning that another beneficiary cooperative under PROACTIVE has been successful in their "Fish Condo" project. As the team was leaving the area, one CWMC member proudly showed a strawberry plant with fruits that she had grown in a pot. Apparently, they were also checking if they could also venture into raising strawberries as the climate in the area is cool enough to successfully grow the fruit.
After leaving Barangay Calagan, the UNDP team met with officers from other cooperatives supported by PROACTIVE in Camp Abubakar. These cooperatives have also been earning enough to invest in additional income-generating projects. Sigay Cabasaran, an officer of one of the cooperatives, shared that their earnings from tractor rentals have enabled them to buy a corn sheller which they are now also renting to corn farmers. Among the new facilities that the UNDP team inspected were a newly constructed Madrasah, a warehouse with solar drying facility, and a library which, according to JTFCT Camp Coordinator Alex Sulay, is the first dedicated school library in the area.
Camp Abubakar is just one of the six acknowledged camps where PROACTIVE is being implemented. A year into the project’s implementation, the promise of lasting peace is already starting to become a reality for the members of these communities. Through the generous support of the European Union in the Philippines, UNDP is helping transform lives and promote peace and stability in the BARMM.
Related
content
content
