Six months ago, I visited a group of women who belong to the Rural Improvement Club of Malangag, Antipas, North Cotabato following reports that a snack food that the group produces, ChichaCorn, is literally being gobbled up by the market.
“ChichaCorn” is the healthier alternative to the iconic Chicharon which is traditionally made by frying pork skin resulting in a crunchy and tasty snacks.
“ChichaCorn,” on the other hand, is made out of glutinous (malagkit) corn grown organically by farmers in Antipas whose lands were abandoned by a multi-national banana company.
The demand is so huge that the women had to turn down orders from big snack food marketing companies.
In fact, a foreign snack food company has asked the group for a monthly supply of 40 container vans (not per week as she said in the video recording) but the women could not supply it.
The group, RIC Malangag, Antipas, is actually a recipient of a financial support of P1.4-M under the SAAD (Special Area for Agricultural Developement) Program from the Department of Agriculture in 2017 to fund a banana chips and ChichaCorn processing.
The SAAD Program, which I designed when I was Governor of North Cotabato, aims to lift families from poverty by giving them production support.
In my visit to Malangag in February of this year I met Florencia Galinato, Malangag RIC President, in the Oblate of Mary Immaculate-owned Galilee Farms in Antipas.
I asked her what it was that prevented her group from filling up the huge market demand.
It was then when I found out that they need an efficient and sanitary drying facility to dry the “malagkit” corn.
She said that farmers in Antipas and the surrounding areas could benefit greatly from the production of “ChichaCorn” because the RIC buys the “Malagkit” Corn for P20 per kilo, which is about P8 higher than the usual buying price of P12 per kilo for yellow corn.
Since the “Malagkit” corn is grown organically, farmers spend less for farm inputs thus realizing a higher income.
Today, I will go back to Antipas to turn over the P1-M grant from the limited funds of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) for the group to acquire a bio-mass powered grains dryer.
The bio-mass powered dryer will greatly help them produce better quality and sanitary snacks food like ChichaCorn.
After that, MinDA will assist the RIC of Malangag, Antipas in assessing the market demand so that the needed funding support could be provided by the Development Bank of the Philippines, MinDA’s funding partner.
I am sharing this story to emphasize the following:
1. Government officials like me should really get out of our comfort zones and airconditioned offices because there are little things that our people need which would not appear in our Annual Investment Plans since nobody knows of the need;
2. Internal economic growth is more inclusive than externally-sourced investments because of the cascading and ripple effect of a local economic activity. In this case, a bigger “ChichaCorn” production by the RIC would mean greater demand for “Malagkit” corn which will be produced by the farmers;
3. Farmers who would expand their farms to fill up the demand for “ChichaCorn” would need tractor services providing income for the tractor owners and jobs for the tractor drivers and farm jobs for their neighbors who could do the weeding and the harvesting;
4. Bigger operation by the RIC, assuming they increase their production and upgrade their facilities, would mean job opportunities for rural women who would no longer think of working abroad as household helpers leaving behind their families;
5. Rural homegrown industries are more inclusive because to work in a processing facility like the “ChichaCorn” factory, one does not a master’s degree, not even a high school diploma.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#letswalkanextrakilometer!
#economicsofthefarmboy!
More Stories
Trump Presidency Boon To Philippine Agriculture
Mindanao Fruit Fest Scheduled Sept. 2025
DA, MinDA, LGU! MinDA Targets Tribal Areas For Highland Rice Farming