Peace Crops: From Arm-to-Farm

Flashback 2017. At the onset of Marawi siege, the war on terror targetting the
Mautes displaced several thousands of urban residents and disrupted the
economic livelihood within and outside the city. The ISIS-inspired insurgency
group recruited mainly children and youth as 'jihad' fighters.

To stem the lure of violent extremist ideology among out-of-school youths,

Peace Crops was conceived adopting Canada’s project "Drop Seeds, Not
Bombs" and bannering agro-enterprise development aimed at reshaping
vulnerable mindsets. Among those instrumental in providing a model towards
agri-based community peacebuilding is Capt. Ron Villarosa who led a civic-
military farming program in Basilan, a dreaded conflict-torn province in
Mindanao ruled heavily by lawless elements and Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

In an earnest measure to help rehabilitate Marawi and her municipal

neighbors, Peace Crops mirrors bayanihan tradition among youth farmers,
volunteers, civilian and military supporters, a co-creative process driven by a
common vision of peace and food security in Mindanao in this arm-to-farm
approach.

Can a community agro-enterprise program be able to stem the lure of

extremism in a province feared to be Southeast Asia's laboratory for ISIS-
inspired militant activities?

It's a tough question to answer. But what is clear to Peace Crops is that they
have taken fruitful baby steps to be able to link small farmer partners --out-of-
school youths, women, and barangay leaders-- to modern food consumer
markets beyond the traditional local outlets that abound in their area. The
agro-enterprise engagement hopes to inspire a shift in the mindset of young
militants to drop their arms and engage in farms, as well as influence positive
response to the longstanding issue of poverty and inequality that continue to
fuel hardcore radicalization in some parts of the region.

Among its beneficiaries is Jalal, a commander of a MILF unit in Lanao del

Sur. Jalal farms when he is not busy especially that his troop was just
decommissioned under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro
and its enabling law, RA 11054 or the Organic Act for the Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

This is the first time his cluster of farmers has gone into vegetable growing by
the lakeside, inspired by the agro-enterprise activity of a neighboring group
who introduced them to Peace Crops' agricultural initiative in the province.

Last April, Commander Jalal led in the harvest of naturally-grown pechay,

whose extraordinarily large, healthy green foliage amazed everyone despite
being a few days short of the 35-day requirement for picking.

His farm by the lakeside is an innovation in itself brought by necessity: the

lake waters have receded considerably due to the ill-effects of El Niño. What
they did not anticipate at the outset was to discover how fertile this dried up
tilapia farm would turn out to be, extravagantly nourishing the variety of crops
presently being trialed in this area. In the days to come, creative lake farming
practices would be introduced, and hopefully, place this farm lot in the map as
a model for M'ranaos, the people of the lake, to emulate.

A core dissuading argument that douses high hopes for agricultural

productivity to succeed in Lanao del Sur is the pervading cultural perception
that, because the province is dominated by commercial traders (of which
mental model is second skin commonly attached to the M'ranaos), its local
inhabitants would shun from engaging in agriculture.

Aside from challenges on culture and perceptions, the irony with Lanao del
Sur is that, while the second largest lake in the country lies at the heart of the
province, local farmers in the area have difficulty accessing this huge body of
water that kisses by its shore for their farming needs. Such is the dilemma of
the farmers in Balindong, where a dried-up creek--painfully a case of "so close
yet so far"--also runs next to their garden. Thankfully, nearby is a deep well
that pumps out this much-needed resource for agricultural sustainability.
Having heard of their struggle, donors partnered with Peace Crops providing a
water pump, giving much relief to enable a community of farmers to pursue
their activity, now secured in their thought for increased productivity.

After a year of service capacitating its farming community partners in

Marantao and Balindong and other neighboring municipalities, Peace Crops
was able to establish new theories on paradigm shift and social change. It
managed to link some small farmers to non-conventional markets within and
outside their localities, opening for them opportunities to capture more value
on their farm products for improved income.

This agro-enterprise developmental approach has gained attention and

recognition from other organizations (e.g., the provincial and barangay LGUs,
NGOs, and other local farmer groups) who have expressed interest to adopt
such model of community engagement particularly in conflict-affected areas.

(Peace Crops)