03/02/2026
LOOK | ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐
In the foothills of the Himalayas, amid thin air and cold mornings, farmers harvest tea leaves by hand as Mount Everest rests quietly in the distance. What feels like a simple cup of tea to many of us carries a much bigger story in Ilam, Nepal, one built on cooperation and shared growth.
From January 7โ9, 2026, Dr. Mark C. Ratilla, Dean of the Faculty, represented the Philippines in the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) Multi-country Observational Study Mission on Productivity Gainsharing in Agriculture held in Ilam, Nepal. During the mission, participants from different countries learned how productivity gainsharing works in agricultural cooperatives and farmer-led enterprisesโa system where farmers receive a fair share of the extra income created when productivity increases, product quality improves, or farm operations become more efficient.
Field visits included tea, dairy, cardamom, and agritourism enterprises. In the tea sector, participants learned how smallholder farming in eastern Nepal gradually evolved into organized farmer groups and cooperatives over several decades. Through long-term cooperation, policy support, and collective effort, tea cooperatives strengthened their production systems, established processing facilities, and gained access to export marketsโwhile ensuring that economic gains are shared among farmer-members.
The lessons from the mission are highly relevant to Philippine agriculture and will help strengthen FMEโs instruction, research, and extension work at Visayas State University, particularly in promoting cooperatives, value-added enterprises, and market-oriented agribusiness strategies. More importantly, the experience is a reminder that agriculture is ultimately about peopleโand that every cup connects us to farmers working together, one step at a time, one leaf at a time. โ๐ฑ
For more information about the federation: https://www.ctcf.org.np/