The CRS-Philippines Experience
A Guidebook for Facilitators

Catholic Relief Services – USCCB
Philippine Program
2007

This Guidebook is published by the Catholic Relief Services – Philippines primarily, but not exclusively, for Facilitators who are tasked in assisting small farmers interested to organize themselves into marketing clusters and to develop their own agroenterprises linked with the market. It provides the 8-step process clustering approach that guides Facilitators in equipping farmers with innovative methods so they become market oriented in their farming and can actually engage the markets.

This book has four parts.

Part I provides an overview with the discussion of the CRS Integral Human Development framework that helps the reader understand the holistic dimensions of an enabling development process for the poor.

Part II (Part IIa, Part IIb) describes the clustering approach comprising a set of eight activities within a stepwise process that provides facilitators with knowledge and skills in participatory methods that enable them to effectively assist farmers build agroenterprises and engage the market. Tool kits are included in Steps 1 to 6 to guide facilitation.

Part III shares stories from different clusters, and

Part IV presents the lessons distilled from program experiences and recommendations for future course of action that can build on the current work.

The contents of this Guidebook are based mainly on the experiences of CRS-Philippines in assisting farmers develop markets for their produce and build their agroenterprises, under its Agriculture/Natural Resource Management Program with its partner non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Local Government Units (LGUs).