COUNTRY STOP

Philippines

Where your monthly support is helping families survive and rebuild their lives

 

 

Maligayang pagdating!

(Hello in Filipino)

Welcome to Philippines – the next stop on your journey with World of Difference! 

Fun fact: The Philippines has the 5th largest Christian population in the world—faith runs deep in these islands!  

The people of the Philippines face several ongoing challenges, including conflict, climate change and natural disasters.  As natural disasters become more common, food and livelihood insecurity are increasing. This means local farmers need support and training to adapt their practices to continue to put food on their tables. 

This is where your World of Difference support comes in... 

Where is the Philippines?

The Philippines comprises 7,640 islands near the equator. Home to over 116 million people the Philippines is the 14th most populous country in the world.  


Poverty is a major challenge facing the country due to their remote geography, some marginalised and indigenous populations are unable to access basic social and infrastructural services in rural areas, with farming often being the primary source of food and income for these communities.  


Training farmers to be more resilient, innovative and knowledgeable is therefore vital in the fight against poverty.  

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Meet GreenMinds: training farmers to grow more, diversify, and increase their income


With your support, Tearfund partners with NGO GreenMinds to support indigenous peoples, farmers, students and former rebels to lift themselves out of poverty. They do this by: 

  • Training and mentoring farmers in agriculture and sustainable practices  
  • Supporting value-adding, farm tourism and entrepreneurship  
  • Building community resilience through leadership training, social support services, and marketing skills 

Through education and wellbeing support GreenMinds are also building hope. Watch this drone footage of GreenMinds headquarters and some of the areas where they are working with farmers.

 

What your support helps achieve

7,400 people participated in training, workshops or mentoring since 2011

Product annual sales in 2024 (with ingredients sourced from tribal communities) was $15,200 (504,200 Philippine pesos)

15 partner organisations attended GreenMinds trainings in farm-to-table concepts, farm safety and agro-tourism in 2024

Awarded 1st in the National Processed Fruits and Nuts (PFN) Trail Mix Competition during the 2023 Hybrid National Food Fair in the Philippines. GreenMinds works with a number of farmers to cultivate, produce and market this trail mix which it sells across the country

 

 

 

‘Encouraging farmers means communities realise they can do things beyond the usual. By experiencing high-level training and introducing standardised protocols that are on par, if not more than that of big industry players, they have developed a renewed level of self-esteem that translates to a stronger binding commitment to the programme.’
Datu Makadingding, Greenminds Founder

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Meet Honorio and his bugs!

Through farming and business workshops, famers in Mindanao are benefiting from Greenminds’ support in a myriad of ways. Take former student, Honorio Cervantes.  After receiving training and support from Greenminds, Honorio has begun a black soldier fly farm, using the fly life cycle to process urban food waste and produce high-protein animal feed and fertiliser. These products can then be sold to generate additional income. Honorio now runs an accredited Learning Site for Agriculture, giving back by sharing his knowledge with the surrounding community. 

Honorio is just one example of a farmer who has ingeniously used the training he received in organic farming practices, business skills and marketing from Greenminds. Recently, one of our staff meet Honorio and his bugs at his farm in Mindanao. Now you get to meet them too – check out this video of Tearfund’s visit. 

Spreading knowledge across the Pacific

Over the last ten years, GreenMinds has been instrumental in providing training to three of our partners in the Pacific; Ola Fou (Solomon Islands), Homes of Hope (Fiji), and Nasituan (Vanuatu). With over 25 years of experience training farmers and providing climate-smart agriculture workshops to communities, the expertise of GreenMinds has been invaluable internationally. We’re incredibly proud to see one of our longest-standing partners mentoring other Christian NGO providers. This kind of collaboration shows the ripple effect of your generosity.

25 years of farmer training

Recently, GreenMinds celebrated its 25th anniversary and made this video from footage taken during their celebrations! Together, we’re on a journey to empower meaningful change for thousands of lives in the Philippines —and beyond.

We hope you enjoyed your visit to the Philippines and were able to witness your incredible impact. Next stop? You’ll have to find out...

 

Revisit previous destinations

While you wait for your next destination, you can find more encouraging stories of transformation by looking back at all the other fantastic places we’ve visited with World of Difference here.

 

See destinations