The Sustainable Tuna Partnership 2 (STP 2) project conducted its last capacity building seminar for small-scale tuna fishers in Occidental Mindoro last March 10 to 13. The event saw the participation of leaders from various Tuna Fishers Associations (TFAs) under the umbrella of the Occidental Mindoro Federation of Tuna Fishers Association (OMFTFA).
The team partnered with Tambuyog Development Center for the four-day seminar. Its initial two days were concentrated on educating fishers about financial literacy, while the other half was geared towards promoting social enterprise development.
Despite the still-existing challenges associated with confronting new concepts, Facilitator and STP 2 Senior Financial Consultant Henry Maamo was pleased to notice an increase in seminar participation. He specifically observed an approximate 50 percent rise in the number of attendees compared to last year.
Maamo also observed the participants’ heightened eagerness to take part in activities and delve into the subjects being discussed. “This batch is more engaged compared to last year’s. The quality of their outputs indicated their appreciation of what we are doing”, he shared.
While the first half of the seminar is meant to equip fisher-leaders with the skills necessary to excel in their roles related to bookkeeping, cashiering, and treasury management, the second half is designed to hone their decision-making prowess when it comes to social enterprise development.
Tambuyog Development Center Consultant and Co-facilitator Felix Tanedo, mentioned a significant challenge, highlighting the importance of the seminar’s latter phase. He explained, “Once organized the fishers struggle with what steps to take next. They initiate projects and gain access to government support but they fail to move forward because they lack the necessary policies and decision-making structures to effectively manage these endeavors”.
Social enterprise development training, he claims, can help equip fishers with strategic foresight required to maximize their current opportunities.
While this is the last seminar of the STP 2 team for the members of OMFTFA, follow-up consultations with TFA leaders will still be done to help with their concerns and provide valuable guidance as they continue their operations.
The team is hopeful that the knowledge acquired during the seminar would reflect on their work as fisher-leaders and propel them to develop a framework that best fit their organizational needs.
