A group of agrarian reform beneficiaries in Santiago, Isabela, is exploring new ways to turn their tomatoes into additional livelihood opportunities.
The Sinili Vegetable Growers Agriculture Cooperative is now venturing into tomato jam processing. During a product development training on tomato jam processing held in Sinili, Santiago City, ARB members learned practical ways to turn their fresh tomato harvest into a value-added product.
The hands-on activity introduced participants to the basic preparation and processing of tomato jam, giving them skills they can potentially use to develop products for their families, cooperatives, and local markets.
Development Facilitator (DF) Melanio Dalit Sison assisted and guided the participants throughout the activity, providing hands-on support as they went through the different stages of tomato jam preparation and processing.
Retired Department of Education teacher Jesusa Flores served as the resource speaker and trainer. She demonstrated the step-by-step process of making tomato jam and shared practical techniques and tips with the participants.
For the ARBs, the training was an opportunity to look beyond traditional crop production and explore how their harvest can be processed into products with added value. Instead of selling tomatoes solely as fresh produce, they can explore other ways to make their harvest more useful and potentially more profitable.
The activity also forms part of the Sinili Vegetable Growers Agriculture Cooperative’s efforts to strengthen its product development initiatives and explore additional enterprise and market opportunities for its ARB members.
The training also highlights how knowledge and skills can help farmer-beneficiaries maximize the value of what they produce. Through simple food processing and product development, the ARBs gain another avenue to turn their harvest into potential sources of livelihood and income.
From the fields of Sinili to the kitchen and eventually to the market, tomato jam represents more than a new product for the cooperative. It represents the ARBs’ continuing efforts to find innovative ways to make the most of their harvest, strengthen their cooperative, and build more sustainable livelihoods for their families.