Women empowerment in coconut-growing communities of Muslim Mindanao
The Philippines - One hundred twenty-four women community leaders from four provinces of Mindanao in Southern Philippines (North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat) joined the training program on social entrepreneurship, an innovative approach to unleashing the potentials of communities to make an imprint on transformative development. The training program conducted by TIPS was held at the campus of the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato, with focus on enterprise development.
TIPS, together with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) through its Gender and Development Program, in association with line agencies of government, academe, business and industry institutions, led the implementation of the lecture-presentation cum hands-on workshop in the heartland of Mindanao. The workshop aimed to mobilize and to consolidate the collective energies of women to make an important contribution to poverty reduction in rural communities as well as to provide an alternative to out-migration through entrepreneurship. Central Mindanao has seen conflicts for decades on account of issues related to ancestral domain and local political differences.
The DFA Office for International Economic Relations, in cooperation with the Technological Information Promotion System and WINNER Program, mobilized experts from the Department of Agriculture, Philippine Coconut Authority, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Science and Technology, University of Southern Mindanao, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, Department of Labor and Employment/Technical Skills Development Authority to undertake the three-day capacity-building of women in coconut growing communities in Mindanao.
The training modules were on: soap-making, charcoal briquette production, coconut flour, virgin coconut oil and other coconut-based products. Resource persons came from the WINNER network of entrepreneurs: Fe Griarte and husband Beato Griarte, F&B Enterprise, soap manufacturing consultants/subcontractors; Anna Renee Manrique, chief operating officer of Moonbake Enterprises; Vince Avena, owner-manager of Cybersmart, an Internet service provider; Dina Masa, Division Manager of Philippine Coconut Authority, among others.