Daila enterprises: From wellness products to organic farming in communities

The Philippines, November 2014 - A partner organization of Women into the New Network for Entrepreneurial Reinforcement (WINNER) in the Philippines has mobilized its members in various communities in several provinces to take up and sustain organic farming practices as a way to promote healthy lifestyle, care for mother nature and sustainable agriculture.

The Daila Community Enterprises, a network of community-based livelihoods run and managed by women, has spearheaded efforts to make more people in more communities aware of the practical benefits and economic advantages from organic farming.  The campaign takes the form of hands-on training at pilot demonstration farms.

Daila members have been given the training to engage in organic home gardening in order to grow plants for family use, initially, as well as for processing for their essential oils. The women use vacant spaces in their backyards to grow herbal plants as source of medicinal oils as alternative cure of common ailments and raw materials for the production of  healthcare products.

The story of Daila is such a success that the combined volume of harvested herbal and medicinal plants from  women-managed organic farms necessitated the processing of  these herbal materials for their essential oils.  Today, Daila  manufactures healthcare and bodycare lotions, washes, soaps as well   as natural household cleaning materials, laundry soaps, among others. Daila has gained international recognition for its product formulations from award-giving bodies in Switzerland.

The woman-leader of Daila, Ma. Aleli Pansacola, has shared her soapmaking technology and experience in organic farming with others groups, particularly in  Africa, Eastern Europe and South Asia.

Asked to comment on the potentials of organic farming, Ms Pansacola said:“ The benefits are a hundred-fold.  But in general, we can say healthy body and healthy earth! The economic potentials from organic farming will come when more and more people realize the importance of going organic.  Our organization provides livelihood by training women in the community on the ‘herbal’ and ‘natural’ technologies.   After their training, the women apply these technical skills in starting their livelihood ventures, which become part of the Daila Community Enterprises network”.

As of year 2000, the domestic organic farming industry in the Philippines was estimated at PhP 100 million.  Still at its embryonic development stage, market-wise, the organic farming industry is perceived as nascent in that it only appeals to upper middle class and health-and-wellness lifestyles markets.