Alternative Sugar Trading

When sugar prices dropped in the world market in the early 80s, more than 350,000 sugar workers and their families were hit. In Negros, the world-famous Msgr. Antonio Y. Fortich of the Diocese of Bacolod called for international aids from the United States, Europe, and Japan for the relief, rehabilitation, and livelihood projects of affected families. However, the projects were not sustainable to keep the people and the country alive.

And so Alter Trade was born. The company was engaged in a trading system that linked the food producing marginal communities of Negros to socially responsible consumer groups particularly in Japan. The initial commodity was mascobado sugar from organically grown sugarcane. The primary purpose of the consumer cooperatives in Japan in importing sugar is to help alleviate the situation of the farm workers in the Philippines. The process of trading goods from producers to end-consumers is called alternative trade, with the motto "Trade, not aid" guiding the system of production and marketing.

The mascobado sugar was first exported to Japan in 1987, followed by balangon bananas in 1989. And the market for products by Alter Trade grew. In 1997, Alter Trade Foundation Incorporated was established as a way to answer the needs of agrarian reform beneficiaries from the government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and other marginal farmers. ATFI's purpose is three-pronged-technological, financial, and organizational empowerment for the farm workers turned planters.

Primarily, ATFI provides the technology to farmers concerning the organic system of farming because the export demand of the Alter Trade market is organically grown sugar. The farmers are given instructions and support services like soil check ups and production inspection. But most importantly, "we teach them to become entrepreneurs from being merely farm workers," says Edwin Marthine Lopez, Executive Director of ATFI.

But what is technology without capitalization? And so Alter Trade lends to its member-beneficiaries their needed capitalization through ATFI's credit with savings program. "The direction of this program is self-reliance for the farmers. Through their savings, they eventually accumulate capital build-up," Lopez explains. At present, ATFI has experienced a 95% repayment from their creditors. The capitalization for ATFI's credit scheme comes from the trading profits and other funding agencies.

Subsequently, ATFI seeks to raise the capacities of agrarian reform beneficiaries as individual producers and their organization through values transformation, skills development, and organizational management.

Currently, the partner-growers of ATFI number to 1,821, all of which are members of 23 farmer groups. Surprisingly, Lopez reveals that 941 of the members are women. One of ATFI's noteworthy thrusts is gender equity-that is, improving the lives of women in the farms.

Last year, Alter Trade has produced 650 metric tons of organic sugar for export and local consumption. The capacity of their sugar mill is 30 tons per day, but they are planning to upgrade their equipment to accommodate 65 to 90 tons per day, and improve extraction to 65%. Although the operations of the Alter Trade is just a drop in the bucket of the country's sugar industry, Lopez says that they hope their system of trading, management, marketing, and farmer support will be duplicated by other entities nationwide in order to improve the lives of farmers in the countryside.

Aside from sugarcane, Alter Trade is encouraging their members to organically grow balangon bananas, corn, mangoes, and pineapple for extra income, especially during the tiempos muertos-the off-milling season where farm workers are left jobless. They also have a growing market for these other crops.

Alter Trade now distributes mascobado sugar in 1 and 1/2 kilo packages, and in 10-gram sachets, which are in demand in hotels and restaurants. Also available is the Masco Rocks, mascobado that was not pulverized, that comes in and attractive can.

It is so comforting to know that for every teaspoon of Alter Trade Mascobado used in a cup of coffee, a consumer is actually helping the lives of marginalized farmers all over the province.