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Special Report
(2nd of a series)
MANILA, Philippines — Back in Cosme’s farm in Barangay Sapang Uwak, the ube industry’s problems are painfully real.
Logistics, they say, is a nightmare. It takes at least two hours to trek down from the village to Porac’s town proper. Then it’s another two-hour climb back up, all on foot.
Sometimes, Aeta farmers here are blessed with donations from external fundraising to have their produce brought to the town proper.
That has been the reality for them for the longest time. But in 2018, everything changed.
Gomez, a Kapampangan pastor and chef, realized the potential of Aeta farmers’ produce.
He created the group Cabalen Aeta Farmers and Partners, aimed at consolidating produce of Aeta farmers from different barangays in Porac, Mabalacat and Floridablanca, Pampanga to sell them at a higher price.
The plan worked and it has pulled up the prices that the farmers get. Before, Cosme sold his ube for P20 per kilo to customers willing to take the four-hour trek back and forth to his farm. Today, he gets as much as P80 per kilo, thanks to Gomez.
The group markets the Aeta farmers’ organic ube produce online. It is being sold for P180 per kilo for orders ranging from 10 to 100 kilos and P150 per kilo for orders above 100 kilos. The prices have increased by as much as P30 per kilo compared to last year, reflecting the current market situation.
Half of the price goes to the farmers, while the rest is used for organizational operations, logistics and monthly food assistance for Aeta families.
“For many of them, this is the first time they can sell their harvest at a fair price that truly reflects their hard work,” the group said in a Facebook post. “We are hoping to sell 20,000 kilos of their harvest so these hardworking farmers can provide for their families until the next cropping season.”
The organization is now covering at least five barangays across Pampanga with a consolidated ube volume of at least 12,000 kilos. It used to be less, Gomez said, but Aeta farmers were encouraged to sustain and hike their planting after experiencing that it was possible to have better prices.
“Kasi sa totoo lang yung mga kapatid na Aeta masisipag. Hindi sila hihinto - hangga’t mayroon silang itatanim, itatanim nila,” Gomez said.
The ten-month yam
It takes around ten months for ube to fully mature, earning its moniker the ten-month yam. The planting takes place during the dry season with harvest happening during wetter months, coinciding with the country’s holiday season.
On that April Monday, Cosme and his nephew, Boyet Cabalic, began the annual ritual of waiting. Cabalic had brought along his 13-year-old daughter. The young girl dragged, then carried, a sack of chopped ube crowns – the precious planting material – on her right arm while her left hand wiped the sweat trickling down her face.
Side by side, the two began digging into soil long buried by lahar spewed by Mount Pinatubo 35 years ago. Cabalic and his daughter quickly found their footing on the rugged terrain.
Legs spread wide, they bent over and fell into a rhythm of sorts: dig, grab a crown, plant. Dig, grab a crown, plant.
All done with their bare hands and bare feet – their soles slowly hardening year after year into something like Cosme’s. Cosme, meanwhile, snatched a handful of ube crowns and began planting along another row – dig, plant, dig, plant.
“Heto po yung pinakamahalaga sa lahat,” says Cabalic while showing a chopped crown of ube. “Ang hirap na po maghanap ng binhi ngayon,” he added.
Before all the ube craze began, planting material was not a problem for these Aeta farmers. They mostly get their planting materials from the same ube that they harvest. They chop off the crown and sell the body for a living. They used to harvest hundreds of kilos. Now, they plan to harvest a thousand kilos.
For every kilo of ube harvested, farmers get around four planting materials. Each planting material can yield anywhere between three and five kilos of ube.
To meet their production goal, Aeta farmers had to source out planting materials from other farms. And that other farm is some 1,500 kilometers away from Sapang Uwak: Davao. Gomez, through the help of Gawad Kalinga were able to get planting materials at P95 per kilo.
“It used to be cheap, it was just P40 per kilo before. But now, planting materials are more expensive than ube itself,” Gomez said.
The entire Cabalen Aeta Farmers and Partners is now consolidating at least 12,000 kilos of organic ube harvest. To sustain such a production level, its partner Aeta farmers must plant 4,000 planting materials.
Once they finish planting, the waiting – and praying begins. First, for a good rainfall by June, just in time when the tuber needs water the most. Second, the rain is not extreme. Climate change has altered Aeta farmers’ weather perceptions. The past year was a testament to this. They suffered drier than normal weather conditions, then extreme rainfall.
“That’s why ube harvest was stunted in the last harvest,” Gomez said.
Using the lone diesel-powered irrigation pump that they have has become a pain with fuel prices shooting past P100 per liter since the Middle East war broke in March. From P40 per liter, they now have to spend P150 per liter. The extra costs could have bought additional planting materials already.
(Up next: Export challenges)
