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22 Rice Today October-December 2014

Women 

who moved mountains

The Cordillera heirloom rice from the

Philippines has palates half-way around the globe coming back for more

 T he jostling streams andgolden patches that paint thescenery tucked deep in thecrevices of the Cordilleras

in the Philippines are commonplaces in the bustling communitiesnearby. But to those who havenever set foot in this world, shaped

 by the arduousness of the terrainand richness of its traditions,the Cordilleras are anything buthumdrum.

Mary Hensley, then a 22-year-old Peace Corps volunteer fromMontana in the U.S., was one suchperson captivated by the land.Today, Ms. Hensley is the founder ofEighth Wonder Inc., which marketsthe traditional rice grown in theCordilleras to the U.S., in partnershipwith the Philippines nonprot RICE,

Inc.Ms. Hensley has not only brought

the heirloom rice to the shores ofthe United States, but she createdeconomic opportunities for whatwas previously regarded as a dyingfarming practice in the famed riceterraces that UNESCO declared aWorld Heritage Site in 1995.

And it all started with renewingold friendships in Kalinga Province,a familiar region where the Peace

by Ma. Lizbeth Baroña-Edra

Corps had originally stationed her(see centerfold on pages 24-25).

Are you lost?“It was usually the rst questionpeople asked me,” recalled VictoriaGarcia, executive director of RICE,Inc., which successfully linked

heirloom rice to the market. Reachingout to the farmers was hard becauseof the fragmented communitiesnestled in dierent corners of themountain range.

“At a waiting shed, I’d usuallystrike a conversation with farmerswaiting for transportation,” said Ms.Garcia. “My goal was to establish con-tact with one farmer and, eventually,he would take me to his relatives, andinto their community. Sometimes, wewent to farmers’ meetings organized

 by the local government. But mostly, itwas farmer-to-farmer outreach. Maryhappens to still have friends in theareas where she served decades ago.So, we started with them.”

“Hope pulled me in”However, being accepted by the farm-ing communities was just the begin-ning. “When the project started, it waslike working with a clean slate,” Ms.Garcia recalled. “There was almost

nothing to start with. Farm-to-marketroads were few and there was noelectricity to run the milling machines.I talked to the Department of PublicWorks and Highways, to the NationalIrrigation Authority, to electricityproviders. The idea of quality had to

 be taught to the farmers.”

“There was a point in the begin-ning when Vicky said she could not doit,” shared Ms. Hensley. “She found itdaunting.” But their common passionfor community development got themthrough the moments of doubt.

“The farmers are really hopeful,”said Ms. Garcia. “They understoodthat they have a chance to preservetheir traditions and heirloom rice.Now, they have a reason to continueplanting.” The hope she saw in thefarmers overpowered her initial

reluctance. “I felt as though I was bringing the rain to them after a longtime of living with parched dreams.”

Momentum of partnershipsThe two women found an ally inUNESCO Ambassador PreciosaSoliven, who was, at that time,advocating for the preservation andrestoration of the rice terraces.

“Their advocacy was not gainingmuch traction,” shared Ms. Garcia.

MARY HENSLEY (left ) and

Victoria Garcia have teamed upto bring Cordillera heirloom riceto the world.

   M   A   R   Y   H   E   N   S   L   E   Y

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23Rice Today October-December 2014

“So, in 2006, when I heard that therewas going to be a UNESCO workshop,I decided to aend, uninvited, andshared the idea of marketing heirloomrice.” At this point, partnershipsstarted to take shape.

“Abraham Akilit, a formerdirector of the National IrrigationAuthority of the CordilleraAdministrative Region and nowmayor of the town of Bauko,

immediately saw how the projectcomplemented their work withfarmer irrigators,” said Ms. Garcia.

In 2007, OB Montessori School,through Ambassador Soliven,donated more than PHP 100,000(US$2,000) to RICE, Inc. Ms. Garciaused the fund to have a millingmachine custom-made for traditionalCordillera rice varieties. “Experts atthe Bureau of Postharvest Researchand Extension and the Philippine

Rice Research Institute providedtechnical assistance,” she said.

Culture is keyThere is something romantic aboutthe role heirloom rice plays in bindingthe indigenous communities of theCordilleras. Reverentially selected andplanted, their seeds are preserved andhanded to the next generation. But to

 be part of the modern world, changeswere necessary.

“Their rice is aromatic and

 beautiful. But the grains are ofdierent sizes and broken,” Ms.Garcia added. “We provided trainingactivities on quality control so theycould produce unbroken, uniformlysized grains. We trained them to begood entrepreneurs. We taught themskills such as keeping tabs on howmuch they produce and managingtheir product.

“Being sensitive to the cultureof the dierent farmer groups is

key to engaging them,” she added.“We want them to be beer farmmanagers but without losing theiridentities and traditions.”

When orders poured in, farmerswere asked to make “pledges.” Theproject shied away from geing“commitments” from the farmers, asthis gives a sense of being “forced” toproduce something. “The concept ofpreparing and processing more rice

than they need for a couple of days isnew to them,” said Ms. Hensley.

“We made them understand thata `pledge` is something they are freeto make,” Ms. Garcia explained. “Wemade them understand that someonewants to buy their rice and that it willhelp their families.”

One of the good things thatcame out of this project was thatthe Department of Agriculture hasinstitutionalized technology transfer

sensitivities to the Cordillera farmers.“The government now recognizesthat it must support the traditionalway of farming” she said.

Ms. Garcia and Ms. Hensley arenow working with the Heirloom RiceProject, funded by the Departmentof Agriculture and led by theInternational Rice Research Institute(IRRI). The Project seeks to widenthe initial marketing success of Rice,Inc. and Eighth Wonder and bringthe production of heirloom rice to the

aention of the national governmentfor developing policies for theindustry. The Heirloom Rice Projectwill also systematically characterizetraditional varieties of the Cordillerasand conserve them.

“A very important part of theproject is helping farmers producequality heirloom rice seeds, whichhelp produce more for the market,”said Dr. Casiana Vera Cruz, ascientist at IRRI and overall leader

of the Project. “We want to empowerhighland smallholders to managetheir own enterprise, conserve theirrice biodiversity, and preserve theircultural heritage.”

“We are excited to buildupon the successes of Vicky andMary,” said Dr. Digna Manzanilla,project co-lead and coordinator ofthe Consortium for UnfavorableRice Environments at IRRI. “The

Heirloom Rice Project, which pullstogether government agencies, localgovernment units, state colleges anduniversities, farmers’ groups, andprivate entities, stands to learn fromtheir experiences in how to make thevalue chain work.”

The future of ancient riceWhen Ms. Hensley and Ms. Garciastarted their project, they were toldthat they would fold up after 3 years.

Now, they are in their ninth year ofproviding a sustainable livelihood tofarmers in one of the most marginalrice ecosystems in the country. In2013, 29 tons of Cordillera heirloomrice were shipped to the UnitedStates, valued at $38,079. This year,19 tons valued at about $26,000 have

 been produced.“We’re working with 272 farming

families,” said Ms. Hensley. “Thereare about 100,000 of them in theregion. There is a long way to go.”

“I believe that the farmers in theproject have found a new sense ofpride in their culture and their work,”said Ms. Garcia.

That pride is palpable as onetraverses the mountainsides ofthe Cordilleras—and it will savethe treasured heirloom rice of themountains.

 Ms. Baroña-Edra is a sciencecommunications specialist at IRRI.

EXOTIC HEIRLOOM rice varieties from the Cordillera rice terraces of thePhilippines now being purchased in specialty shops in the United States.

© OLIVE AND JOEL ENRIQUE