Is cocodiesel the answer to the prayers of Filipino farmers?
Nov 07, 2018
The Philippines is one of the largest coconut producers in the world but despite this Filipino coconut farmers are still trying to make ends meet to provide the day-to-day needs of their families.
Growing Beyond | Shell #ProjectCoconut
Title: Shell #ProjectCoconut
Duration: 4:09
Description:
Discover how Shell is helping build a sustainable future for Filipino coconut farmers and in creating clean energy.
Shell #ProjectCoconut Transcript
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Wind rustling
VO
The Filipino farmer. Versatile, resilient, and hardworking. Tirelessly harvesting the land that provides us food and resources.
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Lucena, Quezon
VO
In Lucena, Quezon, coconut farming is the main livelihood for its residents. However with long periods of waiting and little to no productivity, the farmers are in a struggle to make ends meet.
We believe that like the tree of life, with its multitude of capabilities, So should the farmers be able to do more with their full potential. This is Project Coconut.
Henry Estopedo
Ever since I stopped schooling, I've been working as a farmer. Our life here is very difficult.
Elisa Sebuc
I mostly work at home, we have a small store, and then I also help in harvesting coconuts. Sometimes budget is tight. There are times when we don't have any finances left.
Henry Estopedo
Picking the coconuts takes four days. And gathering them takes that long too. Then, peeling the coconuts takes two days. If there are fast workers, I usually job it out because it’s too hard to do it myself.
Jessie Calooy
I force myself to work; it isn’t an option for me not to because I have no one else to depend on. But I can still manage. However, I need to rest sometimes. Anyway, harvesting is seasonal.
Henry Estopedo
I’m just a tenant of the landowner, I get half of the profits. So if you think about it, it really isn’t enough.
Elisa Sebuc
There were 2 week when we didn’t earn anything.
Jessie Calooy
What I want to happen is to improve my farming and to grow any blessing that comes. That’s what I will nurture. Perhaps, this is my fate.
VO
Together at Shell, in partnership with JNJ Oil Industries, we envision a more practical livelihood program for the farmers.
To provide them with alternative opportunities to make a living so they can support their families, give them a better future, and a more sustainable way of living.
Sankie Sambulan
Social Performance & Social Investment Manager, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.
The aim of this project is to first improve the produce of the coconut farmers by increasing yield and also, at the same time, providing alternative sources of livelihood to increase their income.
Sankie Sambulan VO
Program interventions include provision of technical and entrepreneurship training,
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Farmers planting seeds
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Technical entrepreneurship training
Sankie Sambulan VO
additional livelihood and income streams,
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Farmers looking at farming items
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Additional livelihood and income streams
Sankie Sambulan VO
and support for organizational development
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Farmers listening during a seminar
Sankie Sambulan VO
through the formation of cooperatives,
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Farmer speaking in front and other farmers listening
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Formation of cooperatives
Sankie Sambulan VO
and conducting of workshops on financial management
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Speaker in front, farmers listening during a workshop
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Financial management seminars
Sankie Sambulan VO
leadership, and values formation.
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Farmers presenting their work from the workshop
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Leadership and values formation workshops
Ryan Jervis Jao
VP Sales & Marketing, JNJ Oil Industries
This is our first time to have a partner as big as Shell and the best thing about it is we learn a lot from them, even doing the CSR properly. With their guidance, we do believe that the intensity or the magnitude that we can do is bigger than what we can expect.
VO
Coconuts are the primary source of biodiesel in the Philippines. Shell, as a responsible energy company, proactively works towards the sustainable use of our natural resources.
Jessie Calooy
I attended a seminar. I liked what I heard so I kept on coming back to learn more.
Elisa Sebuc
I try my best to attend the trainings. I am inspired to do what they are teaching us. Then we don't have to rely on coconuts anymore.
Henry Estopedo
Even without money, I’d still show up…
Jessie Calooy
…if it means that I’d be able to improve my state, even at my age.
Henry Estopedo
My heart is telling me that maybe there is hope that we can still change our lives.
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At Shell, we help fuel the future responsibly.
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By promoting sustainable farming practices, we make clean energy available for the country
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and most importantly, help improve the lives of our Filipino coconut farmers.
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Visit Shell website to know more.
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Shell pecten mneumonic
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Shell Logo
While Shell continues to proactively engage in sustainability efforts that generate cleaner and more efficient energy such as biofuel, Shell is also involved in social investment projects that create sustainable livelihood for communities. With this in mind, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, through its social arm, Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc. (PSFI) pilots Project COCONUT, an energy and livelihood sustainability project in Lucena, Quezon Province.
“Project COCONUT is about creating more environmentally sustainable fuels for the Philippines and more sustainable livelihood for coconut farmers by providing increased livelihood opportunities so that more Filipinos are able to provide adequately for their families,” says Edgar Veron Cruz, Executive Director of Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc. (PSFI).
COllaboration for COconut Productivity and NUrturing Farmers' Trade (COCONUT) Sustainable Livelihood Program, or Project COCONUT is Shell's initiative in partnership with JNJ Group to help improve the lives of coconut farmers and help increase their income by maximizing opportunities for livelihood. The project aims to address the needs of the coconut farmers by helping organize a local coconut farmer cooperative, conducting seminars in managing coconut farms to improve their yield, and setting up trainings for sustainable income opportunities in processing coconut products such as handicrafts, jewelry, and furniture.
Through Project COCONUT, sustainable supply of Coco Methyl Ester (CME) as well as sustainable livelihood for farmers are made possible not only through Shell’s purchase of biofuel raw materials but also through supporting the community.
The pilot sites for the project are Unisan and Agdangan in Quezon Province, wherein project survey shows about 50% of coconut farmers are relying exclusively on coconut farming, and within the 30-45 day intervals of their harvests, about 86% are operating below minimum wage. Additionally, 66% are farming below 6 hectares of land, most of which are tenants or non-owners of the land they farm.
“Project COCONUT is an expansion of Shell’s previous initiatives for cleaner energy through biofuels while providing sustainable livelihood to coconut farmers. We continue to comply with government regulations regarding biofuels and have actively sought to find the mix that best serves the Philippines,” Shell International’s Biofuels Sustainability Compliance Officer, Helen Scholey points out during the MOA Signing event last June 6, 2018.
Present for Project COCONUT MOA Signing in Lucena, Province of Quezon is Helen Scholey, Shell International’s Biofuels Sustainability Compliance Officer, Edgar Veron Cruz, Executive Director of Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc., and Rolando T. Jao, Chairman of JNJ Group. The partnership behind Project COCONUT is optimistic in the future expansion of the project to more communities within and outside Lucena.
Providing for the energy needs of the Philippines is a multi-faceted challenge for which affordability is an important factor but so is environmental sustainability and livelihood sustainability which are the key focuses of the project. This makes Project COCONUT timely and important as it helps the country environmentally and financially in its ever more complex requirement in energy and livelihood.
Shell was one of the first energy companies to invest in making advanced biofuels from alternative agricultural products and continues to invest in new ways to produce biofuels from sustainable sources.
On a global perspective, Shell produces one of the lowest-CO2 biofuels available today through its joint venture Raízen, which makes ethanol from sugar cane in Brazil. Brazilian sugarcane ethanol can reduce CO2 emissions by around 70% compared with conventional petrol. Raízen ranks as one of the world's largest producers of biofuels.
Shell is also one of the largest blenders and distributers of biofuels worldwide. Shell purchases biofuels that are produced in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible to blend into its fuels in line with country specific regulations. Shell also supports the adoption of international sustainability standards such as the Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials and the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) scheme.
Through Project COCONUT, Shell sustainably supports local communities and further supports its commitment to reduce global warming by reducing the Net Carbon Footprint not just with reducing emission from its own operations but also in changing the mix of products sold to customers. This project is another step towards energy transition from fossil fuels to cleaner, more affordable, and sustainable energy to meet the growing energy demand in the Philippines and worldwide.