Friday, December 29, 2006

SRE 2006 Year-end Report

REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
As of December 31, 2006



1. Mayon Turbo Stove Wins World Bank Award

SRE’s Mayon Turbo Stove (MTS) was a winner in the 2006 World Bank Panibagong Paraan Competition held in Metro Manila in late May, under the Clean Energy Category. The MTS – a joint project of SRE, Aklan State University, and REAP-Canada - is fuelled by rice hulls and produces clean-burning “blue flame.” In fact, the MTS has been called “the poor man’s gas stove” because it is also very affordable. Each unit costs PHP750, FOB Aklan, and PHP1,000 if sold at our outlet in Quezon City (Sagana 100 shop). The burned rice hulls make excellent soil enhancer/fertilizer, insect repellent, and household cleanser.

The prize money (from USAID) of PHP1 million will be used primarily to fabricate 500 units of the stove which will then be sold to low-income families; project duration is 12 months ending May 2007. However, because of widespread publicity, SRE has been receiving, from all over the Philippines, many inquiries and offers to purchase the stove, which has forced us to modify our original plan to sell only to low-income families. Indeed, a number of buyers are teachers and other government employees who are feeling the pinch of higher costs of LPG, firewood, and charcoal.

Dr. Ed Agustin is in charge of the MTS project. He has been busy attending trade shows and exhibits, giving demonstrations and lectures on the beneficial effects of the MTS on both the environment and the pocketbook. Many LGUs are also sponsoring demonstrations and have made arrangements with SRE on the promotion, marketing, and selling of the MTS. As of November 27, 300 units of the MTS have already been sold. Proceeds of the sales will be plowed back into producing more units and expanding market reach to include other provinces.


2. Another truck donation from Ambassador Tan

Keeping true to his promise made three years ago when he visited SRE, Ambassador Benny Tan has donated a six-wheeler second-hand truck through the Salome L. Tan Foundation. The truck is used primarily for delivering cocofiber/collecting twines and nets from various locations and delivering sacksful of coconut dust to customers. It is also used for the Mayon Turbo Stove project, particularly in picking up units from the fabrication shop and delivering them to central sales points. The truck will also be used in making un-scheduled deliveries of cocofiber nets to Luzon via Ro-Ro.

We encourage everyone to look around for potential customers for the truck, especially in making deliveries to/from Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique. The truck is stationed at a garage adjacent to the home of Dr. Agustin on the ASU Campus.


3. Various Donations from Friends in the U.S.

SRE has received donations of a brand-new desktop computer and laptop; second-hand desktop PCs; second-hand digital camera; second-hand printer, and other office gadgets. Donors are friends and relatives of Manang Perla in the U.S. We have, in turn, donated some of the office equipment to the Ibajay Small Coconut Farmers Development Cooperative and the Alaminos Extension High School.

4. SRE Replication in ARMM-Sulu a Success

Early last year, SRE carried out a replication of “The Aklan Model” in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), in Indanan, Sulu, in collaboration with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP)’s “Business and Peace” initiative; the German Development Service (DED); the Office of the Governor of Sulu, and BJ Oilmill. SRE services included skills training; equipment design, fabrication, testing, and training in machinery operations; product development and quality control; enterprise development and marketing strategies.

The project is the first of its kind in the ARMM and is designed to be replicated in Basilan and Tawi-Tawi. As many as 400 families of poor coconut farmers and former MILF insurgents are expected to participate in the Sulu project. Last September, the Sulu operations received an order for 100,000 square meters of nets for a highway project in Luzon, and is expected to provide continuous employment for up to eight months.


5. SRE Actively Campaigns for Increased Domestic Uses of Coconets & Cocopeat

As part of its continuing campaign to promote increased domestic use of coconets and cocopeat, SRE joined the PBSP and the DED in presenting a symposium, held in Metro Manila on October 25, on coconets and cocopeat and their beneficial effects on the environment, rural economies, and the coconut industry. Target audience consisted of foreign development groups, mining companies, agribusinesses, Congressional staff, media groups, and others whose development projects throughout the country, particularly in Mindanao, are potential end-users of coco coir products.

Speakers/presenters were CocoTech’s Dr. Bo Arboleda (“the inventor of cocofiber nets and cocopeat”) and Manang Perla. Bo spoke on coconets and cocopeat, and Manang Perla talked about the Aklan and Sulu operations. An Open Forum followed the presentations.

6. Expanding the Current Work Force

SRE and the Sulu operations are the primary suppliers (for CocoTech) of the coconets that are now being installed in the Clark-Subic highway development project. Reports have it that the section using SRE/Sulu nets is thriving, while that of another supplier group has collapsed after heavy rainfall. The project has resulted in an expanded work force for SRE, with nearly 500 families now engaged in making twines and weaving nets.

To meet the increased order, SRE has been collaborating with various barangays in training more workers, including a community project in Ivisan, Capiz. With the new truck from Ambassador Tan, SRE is confident of meeting the increased demand for its quality products.

We encourage everyone to help us identify local projects that can use the coconut fiber nets and the coconut dust (used for mulch, soil enhancer/fertilizer). For example, infrastructure projects such as riverbank, highway and road reconstruction, mangrove reforestation, watershed restoration, and reinforcing hillsides and embankments, among many others, are ideal situations that can benefit from the use of these products. We also produce and sell doormats. Soon, through our partnership with Sagana 100, a leading producer of organic fertilizer, we will also be selling coconut dust-based organic fertilizer and soil enhancer.

SRE staff can make presentations on “everything you need to know about coconets and cocopeat and how they benefit the environment, rural economy, and the coconut industry” upon request.


LATEST UPDATE:

Three typhoons have devastated the coconut industry in the Bicol Region, where our partner CocoTech’s main operations are located. CocoTech’s main factory and other buildings were destroyed, but, fortunately, the machinery was left intact. Most of the 6,000 families who benefit from CocoTech’s coir processing activities were left homeless and are currently housed in makeshift dwellings. The good news is that twining and weaving have resumed, albeit under tents and other available sites – which means that the workers will continue to earn money during rehabilitation.

CocoTech has made arrangements to have its suppliers – including SRE – ramp up production to make up for any shortfall. Thus, SRE’s expansion of its workforce couldn’t have come at a better time.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

SRE Launches Campaign To Help Typhoon-Battered Coco Coir Enterprise in Bicol

Typhoons Reming (Durian) and Seniang (Otor) have destroyed the main factory and other buildings of SRE partners CocoTechnologies and Juboken in Guinobatan, Albay. Worse, the typhoons also destroyed thousands of homes including those of workers who do the twining and weaving of coconut fiber. "Our workers have lost not only their homes but also their means of livelihood," laments Julie Arboleda, CocoTechnologies' VP of Operations, adding, "It will be a very, very sad Christmas for all of us." CocoTech specializes in bio-engineerig construction and consultancy; erosion control systems; coco peat growing media, and agricultural, agro-forestry, and horticultural products.

CocoTechnologies' coconut fiber nets, or coconets - used for soil erosion control - earned worldwide acclaim after winning first prize at the World Challenge Competition in November 2005. The competition is sponsored by the BBC, Newsweek, and Shell. The Albay operations employ more than 4,000 families, with satellite operations in other parts of the Philippines providing livelihood to an additional 3,000 families.

SRE is sending e-mail messages to a number of contact persons and organizations, particularly those based in the U.S., requesting donations to help in the rehabilitation of the homes. To avail of tax-deductibility, donations may be sent to Sustainable Rural Enterprise by check made to the AYALA FOUNDATION-USA:

Ayala Foundation-USA
255 Shoreline Dr., Ste. 128
Redwood City, CA 94065
Tel.: 1-650-508-2000, ext. 127
Fax: 1-650-508-8988

CocoTechnologies' head office in Metro Manila may be reached by telephones 63-2-426-5536 and 63-2-927-5953.

"We can't let this disaster destroy our will to survive," Ms. Arboleda vows. "We will, and we can start all over again!"

Whatever donations and contributions are received will certainly help CocoTech and its workers along the path to recovery.