PARTICIPATORY

GUARANTEE

SYSTEM (PGS):

THE ORGANIC

CERTIFICATION

FOR SMALL-

SCALE FARMERSMaria Rowena A. Buena

MASIPAG, PGS Pilipinas

rbuena@masipag.org; pgspiliinas@gmail.com

PGS development in the Philippines

1996 – the initial efforts of FOODWEB and

the Organic Technical Working Committee to

draft the Philippine Basic Standards for

Organic Agriculture and Processing paved

the way for the development of a National

Organic Certification Program

2000 – training on Capability Building on

Organic Certification and Inspection

conducted by FiBL and BioInspecta

2001 – OCCP was officially launched during

the National organic Agriculture Conference

2003 – Philippine National Standards was

developed

2004 – PGS was coined at the

International Workshop on Alternative

Certification (now known as Participatory

Guarantee System) in Torres, Brazil

Masipag Farmers Guarantee System was

launched

Why PGS?

Do we need to certify organic products?

To distinguish organic from conventional products

intended to assure quality and prevent fraud

"certified organic" serves as a product assurance

Marketing tool – promote commerce

What is PGS?

PGS is locally focused quality

assurance system. Producers

are certified based on active

participation of stakeholders,

built on trust, social networks

and knowledge exchange.

Tool for improving socio-

ecomic and ecological

conditions by encouraging

small-scale production and

processing

Why PGS is appropriate to Philippine context?

Majority of farmers are small scale

More affordable for small-scale farmers

Reliable because monitoring is built among the farmers

Farmers define collectively the organic standards they want to follow and is flexible enough to adapt to changes and integrate improvements.

- Farmers and their

communities are

empowered

- Local market is

developed

- Products are

cheaper because of

direct producer and

consumer relation

In PGS:

Global PGS’ and PGS Networks

PGS Networks:

Mexico, Philippines

and South Africa

IFOAM PGS’

database: 132 PGS’

in 54 countries

Source: http://www.ifoam.bio/en/global-online-

pgs-database

A network of PGS’

and advocates in

the Philippines

Objective: bridge

the gap between

the farmers and

consumers and

develop the

domestic market

PGS Pilipinas

Status of PGS in the Philippines Masipag, Province of Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya, Davao

City, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Dumingag, ZDS, Lanao del

Norte, Negros Occidental, SIBAT, PRRM, PCART

PGS as part of Organic Ordinance: Davao City

PGS Conferences 2011, 2014, 2014 with LGU and LGA,

NGO and farmer participants from all over the country.

PGS training of trainers in 2012

Activities:

Lead and facilitate the development of

local participatory guarantee systems.

Monitor and regulate processes and

implementation of PGS procedures and

standards

Lobbying for positive policy environment –

both at the local and national level

MASIPAG

FARMERS’

GUARANTEE

SYSTEMS (MFGS)

Markets and Labels

QUEZON PARTICIPATORY

GUARANTEE SYSTEMQuezon Province, Philippines

Vizcaya Fresh

Quezon PGS Certified

PGS Davao

PGS Nueva

Ecija

PGS Negros

Lanao del

Norte –

Iligan PGS

PGS Orientation with

Davao City Agriculture

Technicians

Where do we go from here?

Strengthen organic agriculture in support of

small scale farmers and broader objectives

in society i.e. food security, poverty

alleviation, use of biodiversity, equity,

safety, rural development.

PGS is the way forward; we must

strengthen, institutionalize, and harmonize

Conclusions

• The Organic Act of 2010 of the Philippines

should be flexible enough to accommodate

the growing number of organic agriculture

practitioners especially the small farmers who

have been practicing organic agriculture even

before the passage of the law. Failing to

recognize this will further marginalize the

small farmers, who must be encouraged

instead to practice organic and sustainable

agriculture.

For MASIPAG, the call for recognizing PGS

is more than certification and market. It is a

call for farmers’ rights recognition – the right

to produce and sell organic food and

products without the fear of being

persecuted; the right to choice of affordable

certification system; the right to empower

themselves by learning the whole process of

certification and most importantly, the right to

be, once again, recognized as organic

farmer.

Salamat po!