From Backyard Hog Farmers To Agriculture Entrepreneurs

With the dreaded African Swine Fever spreading to 74 of the 82 provinces over the last five years, I have designed a program which could help backyard hog raisers and small farmers recover from their devastating losses and bring the hog industry back to life again.
The Community “Hogstel” Program which had been fine-tuned by a young veterinarian, Dr. Roland Fajardo, formerly with the Bureau of Animal Industry and now a faculty member of the University of Southern Mindanao, is a concept which I designed for the villages as early as the days when I was Governor of North Cotabato.
At that time, I only intended to elevate backyard hog raising into a community industry while addressing environmental issues raised against the odor of hog farms that caused discomfort in the communities.
Today, with the help of Dr. Fajardo, who graduated with honors in his post-graduate studies in Hungary last year, the design was expanded and the activities integrated.
In the design which I will present to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. and Livestock Program Undersecretary DV Savellano next week, the Community Hogstel Program will be a joint undertaking of the following:
1. The Dept. of Agriculture National Livestock Program which will fund the construction of the facilities, including the acquisition of outstanding breeding stocks;
2. The Local Government Unit which will provide an area of at least 50-hectares away from population centers but near the agricultural production zones where raw materials for feeds will be sourced;
3. The Backyard Hog Raisers who were affected by the ASF, including those whose farms are still safe, who will be organized into a Community Hog Raisers Association or Cooperative who will be the beneficiaries of the program;
4. A technical management team composed of veterinarians and animal health workers who will operate and manage the facility for the Backyard Hog Raisers Association who will be subject to strict bio-security protocols.
As shown in the diagram made by Dr. Fajardo, the system will be integrated complete with bio-secure facilities needed to produce, starting from the supply of raw materials by local farmers for feed formulation.
With fresh raw materials coming from the farm to the feed mill, the cost of feeds will be reduced by at least 30% and eliminate the risk of feed contamination through exposures during the transport if commercial feeds were used.
The Breeder Facility will produce the piglets for fattening which after the growing period will go straight to the slaughterhouse within the Community Hogstel Facility.
What comes out of the facility will be processed products ready for the market with the income to be shared among the Small Hog Raisers who will now become Agricultural Entrepreneurs.
This set up, as had been proven by large commercial farms like CP Foods Philippines, will ensure that all the possible loopholes in the production chain which present risks of ASF contagion, are plugged.
The other benefits to be derived from this program will be stable prices for the feed raw materials like Corn, Sorghum, Soybeans and Copra Meal for farmers in the community.
Hog wastes could be processed into fertilizer and returned to the farmers producing feed materials.
This Concept will also allow non-farmers, like office workers and Overseas Filipino workers, to invest in the country’s hog industry thus boosting production.
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