Loon, Bohol — On September 9, 2025, the Nueva Vizcaya delegation continued their Trade Techno Mission – Benchmarking Activity with a visit to the Loon Small Coconut Farmers Agriculture Cooperative (LSCFAC), a dynamic community-based enterprise dedicated to uplifting coconut farmers and diversifying sustainable livelihood opportunities in the municipality of Loon.
Formally established in November 2022 by chemist Ms. Reina Perez, a Cavite-born entrepreneur who married into the community, the cooperative began with 16 pioneering members and has now expanded to 37 members across 11 barangays. It received its official Certificate of Registration from the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) on July 24, 2023, strengthening its institutional foundation.
LSCFAC has built its identity around health-oriented, natural coconut-based products. Its growing product line includes virgin coconut oil, coco sugar, coco soy sauce, coco butter with peanut, coco amino, coco nectar, coco chili shrimp paste, coco chia cookies, buko juice, coco ube ice cream, suka original, suka hang, oil liniment, and massage oil. Beyond coconuts, the cooperative also ventures into non-coconut goods such as amakan, bagliw, tableya, banana chips, maizpresso, and corn brew, with plans to expand into meat processing through livestock farming.
Capacity-Building and Achievements
Since its inception, the cooperative has been an active participant in numerous trainings, workshops, and learning journeys in partnership with the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and LGU-Loon.
* July 2023 – LSCFAC and LGU-Loon attended the Training of Trainers on Coconut Farm Business School, where the cooperative won Best Project Proposal.
* August 2023 – Selected as the pioneer training recipient for Region VII under the Coconut Farm Business School rollout, in partnership with LGU-Loon, Gazebo de Loondon Food House, and ATI Learning Site.
* September 2023 – Participated in the Season-Long Pilot Batch of the Coconut Farm Business School (FBS).
* October 2023 – Joined a Learning Journey to Amparitas Farm in Surigao del Sur to observe coconut-based food and non-food product innovations.
* November–December 2023 – Celebrated the graduation of 22 farmer-trainees, who successfully developed five initial products: Maizprezzo, Tablea de Loon, Coco Chia Cookies, Sukahang, and Bagliw.
In 2024, the cooperative launched CommUNITYLink: Adopt a FCA Project under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) funds of ATI. The project’s goal is to increase income productivity, alleviate poverty, and empower coconut farmers through capability-building, mentoring, and financial support.
Activities included training on food safety, coconut by-product production, native chicken and meat processing, financial literacy, leadership and organizational management, record keeping, and mandatory cooperative development training. Farmer-leaders also engaged in regional and national product promotion through bazaars, agri-fairs, radio guestings, and social media marketing.
For the Nueva Vizcaya delegates, the visit demonstrated how a grassroots cooperative can effectively integrate traditional farming with modern agribusiness models. The success of LSCFAC highlights the importance of capacity-building, institutional partnerships, innovation, and community empowerment in rural development.
This engagement strongly resonates with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).
By benchmarking with LSCFAC, the Nueva Vizcaya delegation aims to draw lessons on how agri-enterprise models can be replicated to empower coconut farmers, enhance value-adding industries, and strengthen cooperative movements in their own province.
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