In 2000, the
Upland Marketing Foundation, Inc. (UMFI) was incorporated to provide technical assistance and marketing services
to community based enterprises
of upland indigenous communities and agrarian reform beneficiaries.
UMFI has its
roots in the Upland Marketing Program of the Upland NGOs Assistance Committee
(UNAC). Eight agencies from civil society, academe, and the business sector
that were all concerned with the development of poor upland communities in the
Philippines, are the founders of UMFI.
These eight
organizations were the Institute for Philippine Culture, Ateneo de Manila
University, Institute of Agroforestry, University of the Philippines in Los
Banos, Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF), Philippine Association for
Inter-cultural Development (PAFID), Philippine Business for Social Progress
(PBSP), Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural
Areas (PhilDHRRA), Social Development Resources Center; De la Salle University,
and Tanggol Kalikasan.
UMFI acted as an
intermediary between these community-based enterprises and local mainstream
markets, using large supermarket chains as distribution channels.
It has
successfully developed the mainstream market for its community enterprise
partners. UMFI has continuously fulfilled to date its advocacy, especially
providing marketing services thru its active partnership with Federation of Peoples’
Sustainable Development Cooperative.
To date, Upland Marketing Foundation Inc. has helped thousands of direct and indirect members of community based enterprises located in Bicol, Nueva Ecija, North Cotabato, Misamis Oriental and Nueva Vizcaya by providing access to mainstream markets actively participating in functioning value chain models from farm to market for organic rice, muscuvado sugar and coco sugar.
