Cagayan Valley organic soybean development program in support to nutrition and food security in the Philippines

This study created awareness of the importance of soybeans for human, livestock and soil health in the Cagayan Valley through promotion of soybean production, food utilisation and processing in the uplands and highlands farming communities. Further, the benefits of soybean as an intercrop and rotating crop of corn, fruit-trees and sugarcane was promoted in plantation crops-based areas and to people engaged in backyard/garden-type production. Through proper delivery of various interventions, successful undertakings have been achieved by public-private partnerships with local government units (LGUs), DAR and DENR. This partnership actively promoted soybean production and utilisation in ARCDP-covered areas. Moreover, such partnerships, along with the notable interest of the People's Organisations (POs), were instrumental in increasing production of soybean in Region 02 from almost zero in 2010 to almost 662.0 ha (cultivated in ten farming communities) today. The program improved the uplands conventional farming systems and was thus supportive of crop diversification, increased income, soil fertility enhancement, organic farming and food security. The consumption of protein-rich soybeans means reduced satiety for rice and lowers dependence on potentially disease-causing and expensive animal-based protein foods, resulting in improved household health and nutrition. The active involvement of women in soybean food processing provided empowerment in terms of income generation. Aside from household consumption, soybean production supplied raw materials as a source of protein for swine feeding and created a local market of raw soybeans in the Cagayan Valley. Notably, farming households and young children were evidenced as already having learned to consume soybeans for reasons of a healthy food lifestyle.