Our group initially, had a rocky start because we were supposed to organize an e-service learning program with the Las Pinas Persons With Disablity Federation Inc (LPPWDFI). But due to a low number of respondents from the community (2 people) that are willing to attend the learning program. And also having communication issues and concerns with COSCA. We were not able to proceed swiftly with our learning proposal. Due to this, to be able to move on. The group decided that we should look for an alternative group that we could support and provide service to. The group decided on partnering up with Buklod Tao, an NGO from San Mateo Rizal.
Our project with Buklod Tao aims to be a sustainable livelihood program for the marginalized households of San Mateo, Rizal. Most of them ravaged by the onslaught of Typhoon “Ulysses” (2020) that ravaged the community amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this goal, we plan to the community on how to cultivate, harvest, and sell citronella plants.
To add, we also aim for the following:
- End-to-end support of Citronella cultivation, from planting, nurturing, harvesting, and scaling citronella yield and production;
- Devise a profitable business model for the community to self-sustain production
of citronella oil, and in the future, other products; - Create a profit-sharing scheme to encourage community members to participate
in efforts to increase yield while maintaining the quality of the product; - Maximize existing networks of participants by inviting business leaders and advocates of sustainable products to provide expertise on the scalability of citronella oil production;
- Accumulate funds to donate critical machinery, such as a citronella oil extract
processor.
To help solve the challenges surrounding the project we would need to accomplish the following:
- Thoroughly consult with the partner community to recognize needs, gaps, and capabilities.
- Provide materials (i.e. videos, documents, and modules) for citronella production
and processing, mostly available online. - Provide initial competitive analysis for the partner community to determine competition and its own unique selling proposition (i.e. what makes their citronella oil different from the rest of the market).
To kickstart our group, we had volunteered or assigned roles to be able to do our project. The following is the role chart of our group.
For the initial phase, with the help of industry professionals, we had developed a learning module for the community to be able to learn more about the production and processing of citronella plants.
We also arranged the donation of lemongrass saplings for the community.
