The Integrated Rural Development Foundation ( IRDF ) is a non-stock, non-profit organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was established in 1989 as a social development foundation and has since worked with poor farmers, fisherfolk, rural women, argicultural workers and youth in the communities covering the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Cavite, Aurora, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and North Cotabato.
IRDF programs are designed and implemented to nature alternative people-centered development initiatives at the community level thru engagement in socio-economic, sustainable agriculture and ecological endeavors.
At the heart of IRDF's development strategy is the recognition of key imperatives to facilitate genuine and sustainable rural development. These entail uplifting people's socio-economic station, fostering social arrangements facilitating access and management of resources to local communities and creating a conducive environment for people to develop their full potentials and expand their choices in accord with their needs and interests.
The IRDF is headed by a Board of Directors composed of farmer-leaders, church people and scientists from the academe who share a common vision of development and a commitment to participate in the development process.
The IRDF envisions the fulfillment of the Filipino people's aspirations for a life of dignity, sufficiency and self-reliance anchored on sustainable and equitable development.
The IRDF embraces a mission to contribute to the empowerment and upliftment of the quality of life of marginalized rural sectors by strengthening grassroots initiatives in socio-economic, sustainable agriculture and ecological endeavors.
The Sustainable Farming Program (SFP)
SFP develops farmer-initiated, location-specific and sustainable
farming technologies in partnership with grassroots communities to
promote an appropriate and scientific response to mainstream agricultural
processes that have been responsible for losses in farm productivity and
income, biodiversity, indigenous knowledge systems and community control
over genetic resources. It covers the following:
Genetic Conservation and Varietal Development
To restore genetic diversity in food crops and develop local level
capacity to produce quality seeds.
Development of Sustainable Farming Technologies
To mobilize local participation in the generation and development
of economically viable, ecologically sound and culturally acceptable
production systems.
Soil and Nutrient Management Techniques
To promote the use of legume-based nitrogen-fixing technologies
and integrated nutrient cycling.
Water Management and Irrigation
To provide infrastructure and technologies designed to address problems
of soil erosion,low productivity of rainfed areas and insufficient moisture.
Alternative Pest Management
Advocacy and Networking
To promote farmer-NGO-scientist partnership in the promotion of
sustainable agriculture, biodiversity and genetic conservation.
The Sustainable Resource Management Program (SRMP)
SRMP enhances people's environmental awareness and builds up their
capabilities in resource utilization, protection and management.
Directed towards the formation of community resource management
structures, SRMP activities aim to consolidate and strengthen community
initiatives against resource depleation, environmental degradation and
unsustainable utilization of land and aquatic resources.
The Rural Livelihood Development Program (RLDP)
RLDP contributes to sustained growth and equity in rural areas by
increasing incomes of rural farm households and enhancing opportunities
for increasing rural employment thru development and expansion of
cooperative-based enterprises. These are enterprises where the
beneficiaries themselves exercise control thru ownership, management,
bargaining, and other economically effective action.
The Research and Advocacy Program (RAP)
RAP promotes policy alternatives complementing grassroots
initiatives on urgent issues affecting the Philippine countryside.
It strengthens cooperation among various sectors to advance agrarian
reform, sustainable agriculture, environment protection and sustainable
development concerns. In line with this, RAP conducts research and
policy studies in agriculture, agrarian reform and environment.
The Philippine Rural Situation
In a land blessed with rich, diverse resources, people suffer from want
of food and basic essentials. Farmers and fisherfolks are landless,
receive below subsistence wages and remain indebted. Rural women and
children are most affected by the appalling conditions of hunger,
malnutrition and illiteracy stalking the contryside.
Agriculture, the main pilar of the Philipine economy, stagnates. Major food crops and fisheries declining levels at various times since the late 80's.
Farming systems remain dependent on foreign, unsustainable technologies. ecosystems are under constant stress from plunder and degradation wrought by indiscriminate resource extraction, land use conversions, chemical-intensive agriculture and pollutive industries.
For marginalized peoples in the countryside, contending with the destruction of their environment and standing up to the social and economic consequences of unsustainable developemnt strategies is an inescapable fate. Theirs is a daily struggle to surmount conditions of poverty, inequality and ecological ruin.
The individual and collective aspiration to attain a life of dignity, sufficiency and self-reliance underlies today's rural developement challenge.
