2011

Ube Halaya Production as a viable livelihood program for Barangay Tuntungin-Putho, Los Baos, Laguna*

Paro, Fevi Rose C. Ulat, Mary Ann Sarah C. Yaoyao, Chassagne P.

*A project proposal submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements in SDS 31 (Community Programs and Services) under Prof. Jennifer Sunga-Amparo, 1st semester, AY 2011-2012.

PROJECT PROFILE TITLE : Developing the Ube Halaya Production as a Viable Livelihood Program for Barangay Tuntungin-Putho, Los Banos, Laguna Sangguniang Barangay of Tuntungin-Putho Tuntungin-Putho, Los Baos, Laguna Barangay Captain: Hon. Ronaldo Oate (049) 536-4546 Lead Committee: Committee on Women and Development Hon. Sonny Onate, Barangay Councilor POSSIBLE COOPERATING AGENCIES: Municipal Government of Los Baos Hon. Mayor Antonio Genuino (049) 536-0050/7860 Tuntungin-Putho Womens Group Head: Mrs. Lea B. Torio Department of Science and Technology (DOST) thru the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP) Regional Science and Technology Center Jamboree Road, Timugan, Los Banos, Laguna Contact Person: Dr. Alexander Madrigal, Regional Director Contact no: (049) 536-4997 Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Laguna Laguna Trade and Tourism Center No. 38 Purok, Km. 75, Brgy. Banca-banca National Highway, Victoria, Laguna Tel. Nos.: (+6349) 559.0151 / 559.0254 Fax: (+6349) 559.0520 E-mail: dtilaguna@hotmail.com / R04a.Laguna@dti.gov.ph UPLB College of Agriculture Food Science Cluster Dr. Erlinda Dizon, Director
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IMPLEMENTING AGENCY:

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM) Department of Agricultural Economics

POSSIBLE CORPORATE PARTNERS: FERNA Corporation 16 Bernardo St., San Rafael Village, Navotas 1485 Metro Manila Tel. no. : 253-6136 & 251-5534 Fax no. : 253-5920 E-mail : info@ferna.com.ph Chowking Vega Center, Batong Malake, Los Baos, Laguna PROJECT DURATION : January 2012- December 2012 PHP 150, 150. 00

TOTAL PROJECT COST :

I. BACKGROUND One of the crops being grown in Barangay Tuntungin-Putho, an agriculture-based community in Los Baos, Laguna, is ube or yam. Some of the residents sell the raw ube crop while others make it into sweetened products such as the ube halaya. But, due to lack of facilities and access to start-up funds, ube or yam is not fully utilized as material for livelihood projects for indigent families in the barangay.

Ube Halaya production in Tuntungin-Putho has already been introduced as an alternative livelihood project of some community members particularly the womens sector. It has been an additional source of income for some members of the Tuntungin-Putho womens group. However, based on the consultation with the barangay officials and women sector, there is a need to further develop this cottage industry. Some of the current project limitations include lack of cooking equipment and facilities, lack of technical and marketing training to the women beneficiaries, and lack of access to start-up funds and market to sell the products. Thus, this project proposal entitled Developing the Ube Halaya Production as a Viable Livelihood Program for the Tuntungin-Putho, Los Baos, Laguna was developed to help in improving the ube halaya production as one of the viable livelihood alternatives particularly for the women sector of the barangay.

II. IMPORTANCE OF THE PROJECT

The project will basically help enhance and develop the Ube Halaya production in Tuntungin-Putho. It will provide a viable livelihood which will be an additional source of income for the members of the community.

Specifically, the project will help maximize the resources that the community have. The ube farmers will be given the opportunity to produce more ube crops given that the demand is high for the production of ube halaya. The women, particularly the mothers, and the out-ofschool youth, being the immediate and direct beneficiaries of the project, will be empowered to work, to earn a living and participate more in the community. Moreover, the financial need of the
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community would be addressed through this livelihood. With such, incidences of poverty and cases of delinquencies in the community would also be lessened in such a way that everyone is efficiently busy and economically productive.

III. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The overall objective of the project is to develop the ube halaya production of Barangay Tuntungin-Putho Womens Group into a more sustainable livelihood project to help provide additional sources of income and promote empowerment of the members of the local womens group.

Specifically, the project aims to: 1. Conduct a market research to determine the product acceptability and possible market for the ube halaya and related products; 2. Train the members of the Barangay Tuntungin-Putho Womens Group on the production, management and marketing of the ube halaya and other related products; 3. Provide the required cooking tools and equipment for the production of the ube halaya and related products; and 4. Encourage community stakeholders engagement in women development thru a sustainable livelihood project for the women sector.

IV. PROJECT COMPONENTS The specific project components are discussed in detail below:

1. Formalization of partnership among project partners The barangay council of Tuntungin-Putho will actively seek partners for this project particularly with other related agency, academe and corporate sponsors. The local government unit of Barangay Tuntungin-Putho, together with the Tuntungin-Putho Womens Group, will forge a formal agreement including the detailed implementation guidelines and budget of the

project between and among the possible partners and cooperating agencies. resolution will also be enacted to support the said partnership.

A barangay

2. Product Acceptability and Market Research A market research will be done among consumers to test the acceptability of ube halaya to the potential beneficiaries and consumers and determine the market for the product. Alternatives to ube halaya could also be considered if the products acceptability is low. The potential market must be identified in order for the participants to make out the volume of the product to be produced, so as to meet the demand and not to over/under produce. Companies and/or agencies concerned could be tapped and coordinated with to ensure market availability. 3. Livelihood Capability-Building Training-Seminars for Tuntungin-Putho Womens Group

The capability-building training-seminar of the project includes 5 sessions. This includes different workshops for the Womens Group which would enhance their knowledge and skills on ube halaya making. The following are the sessions involved:

Session A. Project and Product Orientation This training session aims to familiarize the participants with the product that they will produce including the livelihood project mechanics. This session includes discussion of the history of the product, different recipes, famous brands, and potential markets, incentive schemes, among others.

Session B: Product and Recipe Development In this session, participants will try out the different recipes of ube halaya. Other products made of ube crop can also be included in trying out possible alternative recipes for ube halaya

Session C. Proper Cooking Techniques This session aims to train the participants assigned to the first phase of the production, which is cooking the ube halaya. They will be trained to apply techniques in order to maximize resources and produce uniformity in the ube halaya to be produced. There will also be further taste testing to assess change/s that need to be made to the recipe before it is finalized.

Session D. Storage, Handling and Packaging Training This session aims to train participants to the proper storage, handling and packaging of products to lengthen its shelf life, ensure quality and increase market demand.

Session E. Marketing Training In this session, the participants will be trained and given the knowledge on how to secure a good market for their product. Market establishment will be necessary to sustain the production.

4. Ube Halaya Production including purchase of needed equipment and tools This phase of the project is the actual acquisition of the needed equipment and tools for ube halaya making and its production. Some of the necessary equipment and tools for ube halaya production are the grinder, cooking stove, pans and ladle.

V. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

The project management team is the Sangguniang Barangay of Tuntungin-Putho under the leadership of Barangay Captain Ronaldo Oate. The lead committee is the Committee of Women and Development headed by Barangay Councilor Sonny Atole. The partner-beneficiary organization is the Tuntungin-Putho Womens Group. DTI Laguna, DOST Laguna, UPLB through the Food Science Cluster (College of Agriculture) and College of Economics and

Management (CEM) are the institutions that could serve as technical partners for the project. The project could also create corporate partnership with Ferna Corporation (a food ingredient manufacturing company) and Chowking (a local fastfood).

The specific responsibilities and counterparts of each agencies and partner organizations are listed in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Specific responsibilities and counterparts of each agencies and partner organizations Name of Organization / Institution Sangguniang barangay (SB) Project Contribution and Responsibility Implementing agency; monitors and ensures that the goals and objectives of the project are faithfully done Committee on Women and Development Tuntungin-Putho Womens Group Coordinates with the SB and oversees the implementation of the project; Partner-beneficiary; main producers of the ube halaya and other related products DTI Laguna In-charge of the packaging training ensuring the shelf life of the product and its improvement into a sellable good DOST Laguna In-charge of the development and enhancement of the industry thru its SET-UP program UPLB CA (Food Science Cluster) Responsible for imparting of knowledge, skills and techniques on the development of the crop not just into ube halaya but other alternative products UPLB CEM (Agricultural Economics) FERNA Corporation Marketing techniques/skills training Potential sponsor for start-up equipment and tools and necessary ingredients for ube halaya making Chowking Potential corporate partner/stable market for ube halaya
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FERNA Corporation could be a sponsoring company in terms of the necessity on ingredients and other materials needed for the project. Another possible corporate partner is Chowking, known for its Special Halo-halo, can be tapped as the direct market of the ube halaya as one of the main ingredients for the Chowking halo-halo. These two companies have a strong corporate social responsibility and could be excellent partners in this project.

VI. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The proposed project will run from January 2012 to December 2012. The project will be headed by the Sangguniang Barangay of Tuntungin-Putho in partnership with the TuntunginPutho Womens Group (TPWG). The project partners include DOST, DTI Laguna, UPLB and possible corporate partners such as FERNA Corporation and Chowking. The four project

components include: (1) Formalization of partnership among project partners, (2) product acceptability and market research, (3) livelihood capability-building training seminars for TPWG, and (4) Ube Halaya production.

Presentation and discussion of the project proposal to the possible project partners and sponsors will start during the first quarter of 2012. This will be conducted by the Committee of Women and Development under the leadership of Barangay Councilor Sonny Atole with the TPWG. The project partnership will be formalized through a Memorandum of Agreement which includes the Terms of References of each organization / institution.

The training and livelihood needs survey with the TPWG members will be conducted in order to serve as baseline information for the training development and monitoring and evaluation of the project. This will be conducted by the TPWG in cooperation with the

Committee on Women and Development. This activity will be done in February 2012. A product acceptability and market research will be conducted in partnership with the University of the Philippines Los Baos. The research will help determine the actual market of the product and help in developing the product and marketing strategies to be employed. This will also

ensure the viability of the project as a livelihood option for the womens sector of the community. This will be done from February March 2012.

A capability-training seminar-workshop on ube halaya production, packaging, marketing and enterprise management will be conducted starting April 2012. Technical resource persons will be invited from DOST, DTI, UP Los Baos and partner corporation. The training

beneficiaries include the TPWG members who will participate in this project. One of the major outputs of the training is a business plan, which will guide the TPWG and Barangay Council in the implementation of the livelihood project.

The project sponsor will provide the needed start-up equipment and materials for the ube halaya production, which includes the ube grinder, cooking gas stove, and cooking wares. The work area in the barangay will also be repaired and improved in order to ensure a clean and safe cooking area for the project. The TPWG member-beneficiaries will be responsible for the maintenance and cleanliness of the work area. The specific responsibilities, roles and benefits of the TPWG member-beneficiaries will be specified in a contract that will be provided to the member-beneficiaries.

An official product and project launching will be conducted during a municipality or barangay celebration to provide media mileage and increase awareness about the product and project. The target is August or September 2012. See detailed project Gantt chart in page 13.

VII. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Socio-economic indicators can be used to assess the pre and post status of the participants and be the baseline for monitoring and evaluation of the project. One of these indicators can be the household income of the participating members and the employment rate in the community. An increase in the number of employed residents and their monthly household income after the

project has been implemented dictates that the livelihood project has a significant contribution on their financial states.

Moreover, the number of participating women/mothers can also be noted. If there is an increase in the number of interested participants to join and actively partake with the existing project, then it can be stated that the program is a viable livelihood for women. Furthermore, the demand for the ube halaya product can also be taken into consideration. This demand can be measured through an increase in the number of ube halaya produced per day. If the rate of production intensifies, then, these can mean that demand for the product is high, including its acceptability in the community.

Monitoring and evaluation will be done by a monitoring and evaluating team headed by the Barangay Captain together with the head on Womens and Livelihood Committee.

VIII. SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PROJECT

To ensure the overall development of the community and sustainability of the project, other potential resources that can be found in the community should be utilized. The raw materials and main ingredient of the Ube Halaya, which is the ube crop should be produced organically by and acquired from the resident farmers in the barangay. Greater market, fair pricing and sustainable trade between farmers and the TPWG will be promoted. A formal organization or committee in the TWPG to focus on this project should be organized to promote better community participation and enhance the One Barangay One Product system of the barangay. The cooperative scheme will also ensure easier partnership with potential companies. Furthermore, with such scheme, the monitoring of ube halaya production and quality control would be easier. Moreover, it is proposed that ten (10) percent of the monthly income from the Ube Halaya production of the group will be kept, saved and used for maintenance of the tools and equipment. Other production costs including the LPG, electricity and water will come from the
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10% share. Continuous partnership with the local ube farmers should be enhanced and tapping of other funding agencies should be done to sustain the production of ube and maintain a stable market, respectively.

IX. FINANCIAL PLAN The total cost of the project is PHP 150,150. This will cover the training costs which include the fees for the technical resource persons, the meal allowances and travelling expenses of the speakers and participants, and the expenses for the training materials and cooking training; the acquisition of the equipment and other cooking tools and the 10% contingency funds for other unexpected expenses also comprise the total project cost.

See the detailed financial plan on next page.

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Table 2. Detailed financial plan of the proposed project ITEMS A. TRAINING Honoraria for the resource persons DESCRIPTION One speaker from DTI, DOST, UPLB-CA and UPLB-CEM 100/person/day 1000/2 days 30/person Registration forms, brochures, guide, pens Ingredients of ube halaya: - ube yam root - Coconut milk - Evaporated milk - Sugar - Butter UNIT PRICE 1000/day/person TOTAL COST (PHP) 5,000

Meal allowance of trainers Travelling expenses of trainers Snack expenses for participants Training materials and supplies Cooking ingredients for sample

100x5days 1000x2.5 days 30x20x5days

500 2,500 3,000 3,500 5,000

Subtotal PHP 19,500 B. ACQUISITION OF TOOLS/EQUIPMENT Ube grinder 102,000/unit Stove/gas burner Cooking wares 2 gas burner stove Cooking pans, pots and ladles 102, 000 6,000x2 102,000 12,000 3,000 Subtotal PHP 117,000 Sub-total(A+B) PHP 136, 500 C. OTHER EXPENSES Contingency funds (10%) 13, 650 TOTAL PHP: 150, 150.00

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X. WORKPLAN

Table 3. Proposed schedule of activities for the implementation of project

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