There is no denying the fact that COVID-19 pandemic has a mega impact to our nation’s economy and has become one of the most pressing challenges to our fellow coop members. This has led our Cooperative to formulate different strategies to mitigate and adapt to the unfolding continuing outbreak. This crisis has taught us the significance of sustainable production in agriculture as it plays a vital role in maintaining the economy. Thus the cooperative gives more value to its farmer-members, our backliners as to food sustainability.

The Cooperative believes that investment in agriculture is the best weapon to a sustainable economy. That is why GSAC has put up its vegetable farms in Abuyog, Sorsogon City and in Casay, Casiguran. We have daily produce from these farms and sell them at GSAC Home Office. One of our farm objectives is to reach member consumers and wholesalers and offer them naturally grown vegetables in farm gate prices. We are practicing collective marketing to entice farmers to deliver their produce to GSAC and decide on their prices. GSAC will help them sell their commodities while at the same time teaching them enterprise skills.

The GSAC Agri Department has a lot to offer to help our farmer members. We harness our help by encouraging them to also venture into farming. Vegetable Production Loan can be a faster solution as it can generate income from crop produce with less waiting time depending on the chosen crop. Aside from farm inputs we provide through loans, we also give them knowledge through trainings and visit their farm production areas to assist them in technical concerns. Vegetable Production Loan aims for the members to have additional income amidst the pandemic as we also offer their produce to be marketed beside our own farm harvests and sell them to other fellow coop members.

The existence of these GSAC Farms and Vegetable Production Loan has assisted our producers and consumers through this hard time and hopefully will make a greater impact in the future. Members can also avail of other different services in the various sections of the Department. We have our Cacao Nursery, Casay Farm, Abuyog Farm and FLGC. We will also start our Pill Processing and Trading Center soon. In the time of the pandemic this is GSAC’s dynamic approach towards food sustainability: the two way relationship between farm produce and member consumer