Mr. Thorben Stauber, 19 years of age, a Filipino-German student from the City of Braunschweig, German visited the ATI-Cordillera last September 23-24, 2024 for a two-day benchmarking activity with the nearest Learning Site for Agriculture in La Trinidad and Baguio City. The two-day benchmarking activity is part of a two-month internship program for him to gain experience, and have an insight into how extension is carried out in the Cordillera. This is also for him to be exposed to agriculture, ecology, and environment – the fields in which he had an interest before pursuing his college degree.
Mr. Thorben narrated that, he chose the Philippines because his grandmother is a Filipina, from Antique. Fortunately, her grandmother is a former classmate of Ms. Dorothy Hamada, a native of Baguio City and an advocate of Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) program. The SEAGA is a FAO funded project advocating for the consideration of gender roles in rural development. After a short interaction through short messaging services, Ms. Dorothy Hamada agreed to host Mr. Thorben for a 2-month internship program particularly on the different agricultural settings in the Cordillera. Ms. Hamada coordinated with his fellow SEAGA program implementers where Mr. Cristino Balancio, a retired staff of ATI-RTC-CAR, was also a former member. At this juncture, Mr. Cristino introduced Mr. Thorben for a 2-day benchmarking at the Agricultural Training Institute particularly on the extension modality such as the different Learning Site for Agriculture (LSA) and Community Urban Agriculture Model Farms.
At the Center, a short briefing was conducted regarding the projects, programs, and activities of the Center including its operations, vision, mission and mandates for him to have a backgrounder. A quick tour of the facilities was also done. Also, he was accompanied to the ATI-RTC-CAR’s Urban garden which showcased an urban setting where urban dwellers can convert their rooftops to produce their veggies utilizing containers and available materials.
The first visited LSA was at the Benguet State University Internal Guarantee System (BIGS) Organic Agriculture Techno Demo. Mr. Kashmir Ligat, the Project in-Charge briefed him regarding the operations, management practices, and marketing strategies of the BIGS.
The second visit was at the Saymayat farm, owned and operated by Mr. Denver Biang, a successful young agri-preneur offering lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage seedlings ready for planting. Mr. Biang said that he has regular farmers who often buy his seedlings. Mr. Stauber is fascinated by how a small area can be a source of income because his community, a farmer owned a wide area of farmland.
The next visit was at the Sanagi Mushroom production, there he was surprised and amused by how oyster mushroom was cultivated. Mr. Shawnie Bitso, the owner of the farm gave all the details on how his oyster mushroom production operates.
The last visit was at the DomeGarden, located at Virac, Itogon, Benguet. Mr. Stauber said this is his first time to see a hydroponics plantation. He said that in his place, much of the field is a vast plantation using mechanical means to cultivate the farm.
Mr. Thorben Stauber's itinerary is highly coordinated and planned by the SEAGA trainers including his accommodation and the entire duration of his Philippine adventure.
