Processing of farm goods

Moringa tea from home production

The production cost for fresh fruit and vegetables are affected by seasonal ups and downs, here on the Philippines. For example the farmgate prices for tomatoes may vary between 5 and 60 Peso per kilogram(13. August 2010: 1 Euro equals 58 Peso). These fluctuations are sometimes caused by overproduction and also often because of two many traders in line between the producer and the consumer.  This is mainly the problem of small and middle sized farms. Big farms like Dole or Del Monte possess processing facilities of their own and are capable to engage in direct marketing. One big reason why so many small farmer families remain poor.  Our concept here is to copy the ways of the big players on a small and local scale. There are various options in order to do so: Drying Pasteurization Brining and other conservation methods Production of animal feeding Using byproducts like leaves, roots, branches..... Storing of goods Direct marketing

This might be the biggest and most complicated part of our farm concept. The biggest part of our investment funds will be needed here. Right now we are still at the beginning of this project, but there have already been succesfull experiments. With our experimental drying facility we already succeeded in conserving fruit and vegetables, dust free and without any loss in vitamins caused by the sun and other impacts. Production of high quality chili-, tomatoe- and moringapowder has already taken place, our next step now will be the creation of higher of production capacities. We strongly consider the cooperation with agricultural colleges of our region, this might reduce our research costs significantly. A processing facility needs constant fresh raw materials, therefore contracts with local farmers are set up to guarantee a continued supply. Loans to support the initiation of a good local production are also considered. This contributes to the long term stability of the realtionship between the farmers and the facility owner and protects the farmer from the exploitation through big companies and their financial traps. Some products make only sense when they're in the vicinity of a processing facility. One of those examples is Moringa: the valuable leaves have to be used or otherwise conserved (i.e. dried) within a few hours after they were harvested.

Our blender is not only ready to use for the production of our soil mixture, it can also be taken to mix the feeding mass for our animals.

How you can help: 1. Donations enforce the success of our projects on a wide scale. Even small donations mean a lot of help for us. 2. Up-to-date pictures and progress reports, feel free to comment here on our projects ! We gladly receive any helpful ideas and informations. It is crucial to the success of our many small projects!