An agriculture project farm in the Philippines seeks to improve the lives of farmers and show respect for the environment.

Columban missionaries in the Philippines have long been active in working to help solve this island nation’s extensive environmental problems. Mining, logging and poor farming practices have damaged the Philippines’ natural environment and have made it difficult for people to sustain themselves through agriculture.

The Columbans’ newest project is a 30-acre organic farm on Negros Island, which is north of the northwestern portion of the island of Mindanao. The Negros Nine Demonstration Farm was established in July 2006 by Columban Father Brian Gore, who has organized small Christian communities among the people of Negros for nearly 30 years.

The Negros Nine project has six stated goals:

• To help poor subsistence farmers become self-reliant.
• To ensure they have access to their own high-quality seeds through a seed bank.
• To have a healthful food supply.
• To organize farmers to protect their organic way of life.
• To educate farmers in sustainable and organic methods of farming.
• To motivate farmers to care for the Earth as an expression of their Christian faith.

Farmers on the island of Negros rely upon beasts of burden and basic tools to raise food.

Crops, fruit trees and forest products are grown and harvested and terraces for rice, a crucial crop in the Philippines, also are being developed. A large enclosure, dubbed “Animal City,” is being groomed to raise livestock. Later, fish farming will be added as an integral part of the farm’s complex land-management program.

In its completeness and balance, the Negros Nine Demonstration Farm will uncannily resemble the island’s traditional use of agricultural land.

The governments of Negros’s two provinces have given the island an “organic” designation, meaning priority has been given to developing sustainable, organic agriculture.

Currently, Negros’s economy depends heavily upon sugar cane, grown with significant use of artificial fertilizers. Sugar cane can be grown organically, but much more work needs to be done to accomplish that goal.

There is local support for this project, including help from the local mayor and his staff.

Still, many wealthy landowners and the military are suspicious. They wonder why someone such as Fr. Brian would do something not for his own benefit. Perhaps they fear the project may lead to significant land reform in the Philippines.

Things change slowly, but this project is improving the lives of Negros’s farmers while challenging the unjust structures that perpetuate poverty in the Philippines.

Dick Danckert coordinates the Columban Partnership Program, which seeks to bring together people in the Philippines, Fiji and Australia interested in social justice issues and cross-cultural exchanges.

Donors Help Farm Thrive & Grow 

Editor's note: In 2006, we asked Columban donors like you to help Columban Father Brian Gore develop the Negros Nine Demonstration Farm. Fr. Brian has provided this update about how the money has been used to develop the project on the Philippine island of Negros.

With generous contributions from our Columban benefactors in the United States, we were able to buy animals needed for plowing the farm, such as carabaos (water buffalo), in addition to pigs, goats and ducks. With the help of the members of our organic cooperative, we planted rice, corn, bananas, coffee and a variety of vegetables.

Our purchase of adjacent land for reforestation has meant we can better protect our farm and small forest. We plan to plant thousands of native tree seedlings on the land. New fencing protects the vegetation.