MMFFA Showing Good Way To Farmer Association – It Could Be Better!

Personally, as a crusading communicator in agriculture, I want to congratulate the Mina Municipal Federation of Farmers Association, MMFFA, in Iloilo Province, for having advanced farm mechanization starting 06 May 2010 when it was formed (Sheila Mae H Toreno, 07 November 2020, “Reaping The Gains Of Mechanized Farming,” Facebook sharing). Miss Sheila says the MMFFA since the beginning has sought to “shift the traditional farmers into a highly mechanized rice farming community, driven to optimize every government aid to counter the drawbacks present in the sector.” She says:

They sought support from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ease their burdens caused by the spiking prices of inputs, high labor costs, changing climate, and postharvest losses leading to low income of farmers.

Registered with the Department of Labor and Employment, DOLE, on 10 September 2013, the MMFFA covers all 22 barangay associations in Mina with 989 initlal farmer members whose average landholding was less than 1 ha. Helen S Bolivar, founding and current President of MMFFA, says:

We wanted that (all farmers) in our municipality, particularly those who struggle to buy even a few kilograms of palay seeds to sow, can avail of the different projects and services of the DA.

Now then, Miss Sheila says:

The majority of the farmers in Mina (have been) able to access various interventions from the (DA), ranging from certified and hybrid seeds to fertilizer, machinery, extension services, and market linkages.

So, member farmers of the MMFFA have been patronizing its Farm Service Provider Program since its launching in 2013. The MMFFA now has the following, among other machinery and equipment:

Second-hand pick-up service
Elf truck
Two units of Four-wheel drive tractor
Two units of rice combine harvester
Five hand tractors
One floating tiller
One granule applicator
Two mobile dryers
One double-pass rice mill
One riding-type transplanter
Four mechanical sowers.

Those are altogether worth several millions of pesos that no single farmer association can acquire on its own. Using those, Sheila says:

MMFFA (speeded) up the land preparation and harvesting activities of farmers in Mina and other adjacent areas. Farmer-clients saved on their labor expenses and lessened their postharvest losses, thus, increasing their take-home earnings.

Granting all that, I do not see why the MMFFA has not transformed itself into a multi-purpose cooperative?

A coop is governed by a democratic board always, while an association may be headed by a dictator. Much more than those, if the MMFFA were a cooperative, members could borrow cash for farming and family needs, as well as share in the earnings of the group at the end of each year.

As of now, the MMFFA is merely a common service facility. As a coop, the MMFFA will be fully supportive of its members, assisting with affordable farm & family loans, inputs, and additional equipment.

Eliminating the merchants, the MMFFA as a coop directly carries out marketing of the farmers’ produce, so that members receive well-deserved incomes. What can be better than that?!@517