The Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka or PAKISAMA is a national peasant confederation.  It is composed of 30 local peasant federations with a combined reach of 100,000 small farmers, fishers and rural women in 28 provinces nationwide.  Two of these are national sectoral federations of rural women and fishers, namely, the LAKAMBINI and the MAMAMAYAN.

 

Since PAKISAMA's establishment in 1986, it has been a consistent advocate of the peasant rights and welfare and an avid promoter of smallholder agriculture and fisher in the country.  PAKISAMA is recognized as one of the leading peasant organizations in the revitalization of the Philippine peasant movement especially in the pursuit of genuine agrarian reform, fishery reform and rural development.

 

Some of the popular advocacy initiatives of the confederation were the famous Hunger Strike of Mapalad Farmers from Sumilao, Bukidnon, the national campaign for the recover of the Coco Levy Fund and the Great Jubilee Pilgrimage Against Hunger.  The Jubilee Pilgrimage was a multisectoral pilgrimage advocating the five Rs of the Jubilee Year, which includes the call to Reclaim the Land.

 

Hand in hand with its advocacy efforts, the PAKISAMA is also deliverying one of its traditional services, which is membership education, which includes organizational development and gender mainstreaming.

 

However, just like any association of the poor, it has also evolved into a mutual aid organization.  One of the traditional services along this line is the farmer-to-farmer extension program aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture and improving farm productivity.

 

In return for these services, the members and its broad constituency are expected to contribute membership dues and other fees to support the programs and services of the confederation.

 

From this standpoint therefore, the continuing relevance and viability of a peasant organizations such as the PAKISAMA is tied up with its quest for developing membership services that has the required quality, reach and depth that can be appreciated by its rank and file members and its quest for financial independence.

 

One of the expected mutual aid services of the confederation is the development of socio-economic enterprises that can support the livelihood initiatives of its affiliates and rank and file members.  It one meeting of its National Executive Committee, the leadership was asked what core business services can provide the biggest impact to the livelihood of small farmers and fishers.  They responded that PAKISAMA could focus on the development of Credit, Trading and Insurance services.

 

Credit, because many of its affiliates and individual members have limited access to formal financial sources simply because they do not meet the minimum criteria of these formal sources.

 

Trading, because many of PAKISAMA's affiliates expect its confederation to assist them in finding better market arrangement for the products of their rank and file members.

 

Insurance, because PAKISAMA's leadership recognizes the need to reduce the vulnerability of the poor especially during unexpected crisis in their life.

Under the leadership of the PAKISAMA and with the warm support of its development partners such as the LTO, the Agriterra and the Interpolis Re, it was able to launch  last August 17, 2002, the PAKISAMA Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. (PAKISAMA Mutual). The PAKISAMA Mutual and its mass membership in line with its efforts to provide quality services to its members.