Po, Trisha Mae A.

BS ARCH 4 November 26, 2022

Group 1 AD 0152E – POSITION PAPER

A Position Paper on the Farmer’s Association of Alcoy, Cebu

Alcoy is largely an agricultural town that relies heavily on its natural resources as the main
sources of livelihood of the locals. The Nug-as Forest, which was declared a Key-Biodiversity Area (Lillo
et al, 2020), covers four barangays namely Nug-as, San Agustin, Atabay, and Poblacion. It contains
several plantations of Mahogany, Eucalyptus and mountain agoho, with Rattan surrounding the area of
the forest. More prominently in barangay Nug-as, there are several vegetable farms in between
plantations, in forest edges and in some cases in gullies inside the forest (Paguntalan and Jakosalem,
2008). More than half of the municipality’s crops come from the mountain barangay of Nug-as. One of
the first Integrated Social Forestry Programs (IPD) was implemented in 1984 in Sitio Bulolakaw, located
in barangay Nug-as. It is the most populated among sitios in Nug-as. Bulolakaw consists of several
croplands, grasslands, and forest lands. The croplands are reported to be planted two to three times a year,
mainly to corn which is the staple crop, and vegetable crops like Baguio beans, cabbage, pechay, espada,
spring onions, black pepper, sayote, eggplant, and carrots (Borlagdan, 1990). Here, vegetable crops get
distributed to the Mantalungon market in the neighboring municipality of Dalaguete, the Nug-as market,
and in Alcoy proper. 
During a meeting last September 14, 2022 between students under the AR 4100 class and
representatives of various sectors from Alcoy, the group was able to have a conversation with members
from the farming sector. Plans made by the Local Government Unit to boost the agricultural sector of the
community come with a number of strategies such as production support services, distribution of assorted
vegetables, the use of organic fertilizers given by the LGU, programs such as plant now, pay later, crop
and livestock insurance, distribution of assorted seedlings, Farmers Association Techno Demo Farm,
enhancement of vegetable trading post, opening of farm to market rooms. 
Agriculture is one of the main sources of livelihood and income of the locals, with Alcoy being
largely an agricultural town. Despite this, we notice that many issues related to the main practice of the
locals are a hurdle to the progression of the local economy. These issues are deeply rooted in its effective
use of its abundant resources in agriculture. In this regard, we request for a redevelopment plan of
Alcoy’s public market chain, as well as the rehabilitation of its public market facilities in behalf of the
Farmer’s Association of Alcoy. Presented below are the highlighted concerns and needs of Alcoy in order
to harness and produce appropriate solutions for the Farmer's Association of the municipality:
1. We have observed that transporting goods to major consumers like Metro Cebu is not possible
since there’s no assistance from the LGU in the form of transportation. Since more than half of
the municipality’s crops come from the mountain barangay of Nug-as, it is only sensible to utilize
its potential to create livelihood and boost its economy. There is a need for an accessible route for
human travel and transportation of produce to and from the barangay to spur trading and
commerce within Nug-As and other neighboring municipalities.

2. The occurrence of extreme weather caused by climate change heavily affected the crop
production and the livelihood of the locals. Food safety may be at risk as a result of changes in
the frequency and severity of floods and droughts, which could present difficulties for farmers.
 We noticed that it has created a very wide price gap since the adverse effects resulted in low
supply and unstable prices.

3. We noticed the lack of coordination between farmers which resulted from poor education
systems. They are expected not to plant the same crops to avoid oversupply which also causes a
drop in prices. We strongly believe that there is a need of facilities for segregation of their
materials and waste in which they store their compost.

With these issues in mind, we request for a renovation of the existing public market in Nug-as
and Poblacion. This will give us an avenue to improve stalls, provide proper storage facilities for
crops and harvests, and a better docking area for deliveries to and from Nug-as. We also request for
an addition of satellite markets in Pugalo, and Daan Lungsod to widen the vicinity of food
accessibility from the main market sources and to provide employment opportunities to the locals.
We believe that this greatly affects the economic status of Alcoy by giving more means and
methods to generate income and livelihood to the people who live in Alcoy. Since there is a very high
percentage of unemployment across the barangays due to an inadequacy of jobs, which is greatly
unproportional to the number of people living in the areas where there is untapped potential with its
abundant resources in agriculture.

ISSUES GOALS PROPOSAL IMPACT

There is no proper storage Introduce modern facilities Post-Harvest Facility Better food handling
facility & method for Cold Storage Room Keep quality of
farmers goods perishables

Poor public market Restructuring of spaces Renovation of Nug-as Development of nodes for
conditions and Poblacion Public tourism within barangay
Nug-as: Improve vendor and Market
 Vendors selling in consumer experience Increased revenue for
floors Proper space planning farmers and fishermen
 No tables selling Improve sanitation for zoning of wet and
stalls dry goods
Poblacion
 Poor space planning Proper stalls and
of selling zones overall selling area

Difficult food
accessibility for north and
south area of Alcoy
Widen vicinity of food
accessibility from main
market sources
Pugalo Satellite Market Provide employment
opportunities to locals
Daanlungsod Satellite
Market Food supply to tourism
sites (Tingko Beach,
hotels, and resorts)

Lack of coordination Establish venues for Demo farm learning Teaching of sustainable
within farmers toward education on sustainable center farming and fishing
farming practices farming and fishing practices practices to locals
Multi-purpose learning
 room
The municipality of Alcoy has great potential especially for its agriculture sector. This can be
boosted through a development plan which highlights the agricultural economy. This plan has probed into
the issues the municipality faces. Its major problems are transportation accessibility, education on
agriculture and fishing, sustainable practices, systematic coordination, waste, and climate change. This
request does not only benefit the communities of Alcoy but the province of Cebu as well. We aim to
uplift commerce and trade through the improvement of existing facilities and the addition of facilities like
the satellite markets and the post-harvest facilities.
We hope to improve the economic outcomes for smallholder farmers and fishermen. This will
significantly elevate the quality of life for the residents of Alcoy by giving them more opportunities. A
growing municipality would also mean a greater promise for the interest of investors.