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Name : | Ms. Jade F. Alipoyo |
| Country : | Philippines | |
| Native language : | Cebuano | |
| Work Position : | Coordinator for the WAND initiative | |
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Work |
To Ms. Alipoyo farming is about more than just making money. It is a way of life where all things are intertwined. Born and raised as a farmer, Ms. Alipoyo felt called to return to her rural village after studying at college, despite the fact that many of her friends left to live in the cities. As a Coordinator for the Local Empowerment Foundation, she leads classes in forestry and agriculture and designs programs for water resource development. She especially enjoys traveling to teach workshops in the small and remote communities. Ms. Alipoyo hopes to learn more about sustainable organic agriculture techniques at ARI to help her be a better extension worker. She is especially interested in studying about how to use local resources, as many of the rural communities she serves are very isolated. Additionally, she hopes to learn more about fish culture for income generation.
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Sending Organization |
The Water, Agro-Forestry, Nutrition and Development (WAND) initiative promotes low input, sustainable farming systems, home gardening and planting of indigenous and medicinal plants. Working in rural villages only accessible by motorcycle and foot, WAND teaches communities how to install gravity-fed water irrigation systems, raise seedlings and form small community gardens for local consumption. With a strong focus on forestry, the program has successfully raised 26,400 trees since 1996 which have helped with water retention and preventing erosion and floods. WAND also encourages vegetable farming through “Food Always in the Home” (FAITH) gardens. This program specifically focuses on good nutrition because the traditional Filipino diet often is restricted to rice and dried or salted fish. Many farmers practice mono crop farming where they grow only rice, but often their income from this single crop is unable to provide for additional food. Small home gardens help alleviate this by providing nutritious vegetables to supplement their diet.
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