Later in the same year, the group kickstarted their egg production in December, catering small-scale orders from their community. The production started slow, but as the egg production increased and stabilized, they started supplying farm fresh eggs to their local market and enterprises like bakeries and sari-sari stores in nearby communities.
Ms. Lilibeth Gonzales, chairperson of PaCLayFA, shared that their experience as egg producers taught them to be independent agripreneurs. The project also strengthens the women’s bond.
“Malaki po ang naitulong [ng egg production project] sa grupo namin in terms of unity and cooperation among members. Natuto [rin] kami na maging independent…sa larangan ng pagpapatakbo ng negosyo,” Gonzales shared.
(The egg production project helps us a lot in terms of building our unity and cooperation among our members. We also learned how to be independent in managing our enterprise.)
Members get a discounted price for each tray of eggs so they can also earn as resellers and have access to affordable, fresh eggs for consumption. The chairperson also shared that there are members who are skilled in making salted eggs and leche flan using their produce which are other ways for the women to earn.
To provide more access to financial aid, the group also grants monetary loans with a maximum of Php 3,000.00 from their egg sales for its members with no interest.
“Bilang tulong [sa mga miyembro], wala pong interes [ang pautang]. Binabalik in naman po agad within a month, ‘yun po ang napagkasunduan namin,” the PaCLayFA chairperson explained.
(As a help for the members, our monetary loan does not have interest. Members return the money within the month as we have all agreed.)
Because of their hard work, DA Agri Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation Program (F2C2) MIMAROPA recognized the group as one worthy to receive interventions under the agency’s Balik Probinsya Program.
