NOVEMBER 2011 • Judith Puyat-Magnaye, UNDP New York.
In light of the March 2011 BBC coverage, a friend from the UK inquired if there was someone in my network who was involved in solving the "pagpag” problem in Manila's urban poor communities. Pagpag in Filipino is the leftover food from fast-food restaurants scavenged from waste disposal sites.
Obviously, the problem is a symptom of a larger societal failure in jobs creation and food security; however, there are concrete, quick-win interventions that can be done while people struggle to find and/or apply suitable and sustainable solutions.
I sent out a global call among my friends and acquaintances and received valuable inputs from the Filipino Diaspora across many countries. The contribution from Fr. Benigno Beltran, SVD [i]who heads the Veritas Social Empowerment, Inc. in Manila was insightful and inspiring. He said that not too long ago he attended the Drucker School of Management, and the lesson he learned on the multi-dimensional nature of poverty was to “Go Big or Go Home”. This phrase refers to a champion’s or a leader’s attitude in alleviating poverty, i.e. to go all the way in making an impact towards poverty reduction.
For about 30 years, Fr. Beltran has taken care of the “scavenger residents” of Smokey Mountain. He has helped to organize, house, educate and empower a community that truly embodies living on “the margins of society.” Fr Beltran believes that a change of mindset among the residents of Smokey Mountain is key to getting them out of their deplorable situation. Basing the foundation of his work on spiritual values, Fr. Beltran has helped the people of his unique parish not only with their daily basic needs, but also in regaining their self-respect, dignity and hope.
Fr. Beltran has big plans for his scavenger parishioners. He received the 2010 Millennium Development Goals Warrior Award presented by UNDP Philippines. At the present time, he is working with 16 parishes in the Tondo district of Manila, known for being one of the poorest and most underdeveloped districts in the country and one of the most densely populated areas of land in the world. Here, by mobilising local communities, the government was convinced to remove the trash heap and erect low-cost housing in its place. However, the challenge faced was that no matter how “low-cost” the housing, with prices of basic commodities on the rise and without an alternative way to make a living, these newly sheltered people may be forced to settle back into slums.
With the help of the Drucker School of Management, a feasibility study was conducted , using information technology for a distribution system of fresh chicken to the market. Veritas Social Empowerment, Inc. signed agreements with local suppliers. The selling price for the chicken is 30% below market price. Therefore, instead of buying chicken from the palengke (wet market), the residents of Tondo now get their orders delivered to their doorstep on the same day chickens are delivered by the direct suppliers. E-trading is applied in this distribution system using mobile phones since the Philippines has become known as the text capital of the world post-EDSA 2 Revolution of 2001. The EDSA Revolution of 2001, also called EDSA 2 or the Second People Power Revolution, refers to the four-day revolution from January 17–20, 2001 that peacefully overthrew Philippine President Joseph Estrada. Smart Communications, a wholly owned mobile phone and Internet service subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) provided the technology for this project. A day before actual delivery: the price, quantity of chicken to be delivered, and timing of delivery are communicated by the suppliers though text messaging and received by the Veritas dashboard. Information is spread through text messaging to the women distributors who take orders from their respective communities. The women text back their orders to Veritas. They pick up the chicken from Veritas at the time of delivery and distribute these door-to-door. Through “SMART money,” which is linked to an e-banking system, payments are made through text messaging. The women distributors get 10% of the gross sales. The pilot project manifested the following benefits: (a) a huge market for the local suppliers; (b) residents of Tondo receive fresh chicken delivered to their homes at 30% below market price; (c) income generation for the women of Tondo at 10% of gross sales.
Because of the success of the pilot project, Veritas intends to upscale by distributing not only chicken but other basic goods such as fresh organic vegetables, fruits, grains, etc. Veritas recently signed agreements with organic farmers in nearby provinces and the Department of Agriculture. There is also ongoing research on how to support the organic farmers to increase their production. Veritas is trying to arrange a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) by setting up a portable biochar machine to help farmers fertilize their land in a sustainable way, which can be linked to climate change and biodiversity. Biochar has been noted to be a win-win: good for soil, good source of energy (without pollution), and utilizes waste. This technology, originally from Brazil has kept the soil in the Amazon fertilized for over 1,500 years. The Veritas model in Tondo will be replicated in CALABARZON[ii]. There are also pending requests from Mindanao e.g. the Lanao areas. The following key messages are summarized from the Tondo Millennium Challenge’s experience on how to fight poverty:
1. Money is not the only solution to poverty alleviation. Focus should be given on value formation with radical and forceful reorientation of poverty and its multi-dimensional aspects.
2. People should own the intervention; they should learn to identify their problems and learn how to solve them. Aid dependency (“hand-outs”) does not solve the problem. Interventions should focus more on long-term and sustainable capacity development, livelihoods/job creation, etc.
3. It is not enough “to teach man how to fish” -- there is also a need to “revolutionize” the fishing industry.
Would extreme poverty be halved by 2015? It remains to be seen, but it is important to note that Community leaders have taken up the challenge to go all the way and do whatever they are already doing to its fullest by remaining firm in their convictions and actions. They have also started to educate and mentor 120 of the smartest and brightest among the out-of-school youth in Tondo to help them become entrepreneurial leaders toward achieving the Tondo Millennium Challenge. Plus, they have generated a proposal with the Department of Education for an Open High School using information technology to its fullest. If the project is successfully scaled up to a national level, it should leave an enduring mark.
The above CD story is not only one of inspirational leadership and drive on the part of professionals, but also that the value- and supply chains of modern distribution systems can be sufficiently re-engineered to make them pro-poor, pro-jobs and pro-climate in these times when poverty, employment and sustainable development are stark challenges facing policymakers around the world.
About the Author
Judith Puyat-Magnaye is a Policy Associate in the Programming Policies Team of the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP)/Capacity Development Group (CDG). She supports the development of policies and procedures including training, ensures knowledge management in building better feedback loops to influence policy formulation and acts as focal point on the use of IT platforms such as Sharepoint and Teamworks in line with programme and project management.
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