The Federation of Peoples Sustainable Development Cooperative (FPSDC) is a group of 154 cooperatives and civil society organizations in the Philippines — focused on improving the lives of marginalized people. They provide financial support, technical training and partnership opportunities to local business enterprises to promote self-reliant, sustainable and peaceful communities.

Origins of the FPSDC

The FPSDC grew out of the Partnership for Development Assistance in the Philippines Incorporated (PDAP) and its Central Loan Fund (CLF). Filipino and Canadian NGOs established the PDAP in 1986 to aid local organizations in the development of autonomous communities of marginalized peoples in the Philippines. The CLF facilitated financial assistance relationships among PDAP member organizations. In 1998, 21 PDAP NGOs and cooperatives expanded the CLF to create the FPSDC.

The 4Ps

The FPSDC names “People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace” as the canons of sustainable development in the Philippines. Their efforts focus on providing local businesses fair market access and sustainable growth opportunities to promote local prosperity and instigate social change — which in turn, engenders peaceful communities and inter-community relationships. The FPSDC gives member organizations the tools to develop self-reliant economic and social support within marginalized communities in the Philippines.

FPSDC Services & Digital Presence

FPSDC offers five unique services. The cooperative housing service promotes sustainable development in the Philippines through the construction of affordable and environmentally-conscious homes, in food-secure communities.  The product distribution and marketing service helps local businesses enter competitive markets and encourages their commitment to environmental and social consciousness. The federation places particular emphasis on expanding opportunities for farms like Farms and Cottages, which the FPSDC helped to introduce to 457 supermarkets in Manila.

The socialized credit service offers a variety of loans to help businesses committed to job creation and sustainable development in the Philippines generate and reinvest money. The investment facility service manages organizations’ investments in marginalized communities. Their main goal is to help optimize wealth generation for both the financiers and the communities.  Finally, the institution-building service helps FPSDC organizations expand their institutions and their influence in marginalized Filipino communities.

In conjunction with the RedRoot Artists Cooperative and the Cooperative Development Authority, the FPSDC created a website to disseminate products made by cooperatives in the Philippines. E-cooptrade.coop, for example, markets primarily locally produced and organic products. The website also promotes local social organizations.

FPSDC Co-op Ville

The FPSDC continues to build a cooperative housing development in Barangay Mambuaya Cagayan de Oro City as a resettlement community for victims of Typhoon Sendong. A massive typhoon struck the Philippines in 2011 from December 16 to 18 — killing more than 1,200 people and leaving more than 60,000 homeless. The FPSDC Co-op Ville houses 130 families on 2.5 hectares of land in addition to a multipurpose hall, courtyard, health center and education center. The federation is now building a bed and breakfast in the village to serve as a self-reliant business opportunity for the community.

Empowering Communities to Prosper

The FPSDC organizes, connects and offers financial and marketing support to enterprises committed to the sustainable development of marginalized communities, in the Philippines. The opportunities provided by the federation put power in the hands of the people it serves. These opportunities then foster independent, prosperous and sustainable communities among the most disadvantaged people in the Philippines.

– Avery Saklad
Photo: Flickr