Coming home to gold: Rediscovering the value in forgotten lands and people
- Josh Mahinay
- Mar 24
- 5 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Written by Josh Mahinay, Co-founder of PhilSEED and UMA
It was a crisp fall Saturday afternoon on the streets of London. I sat quietly with a cup of coffee in hand, reflecting on my year at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). My luggage was already packed, and I was just a few weeks away from flying back to Manila. I had completed the in-campus requirements of my program, though one final research paper still awaited me. Yet what truly occupied my thoughts was something more personal, the looming uncertainty of what I would choose to do after graduation.
A restless soul, a new mission
In 2013, I returned home to Manila from Los Angeles and founded BEAGIVER (www.beagiver.com.ph), an advocacy that later evolved into a social enterprise. Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of being part of other impact-driven ventures such as Splice Innovations (www.splicebusinesssolutions.com) and Yellow Boat of Hope (https://yellowboat.org/), each one, in its own way, serving a purpose I deeply believed in.
But I must admit, this feels like another crossroad. Only this time, it feels heavier.
Ten years after moving back to the Philippines and contributing, in my own way, to various social development initiatives through the teams I've worked with, I find myself asking, "Is the country heading in the right direction? Is there still a real prospect of a better future ahead?", especially that the 2022 elections, which for many advocates of good governance like myself, was a devastating blow. One that lingers to this day.
As people hurried past me on the crowded streets, my thoughts wandered. The bittersweet taste of my Ecuadorian coffee seemed to mirror the paradox of my own life, now lived on the side of privilege, yet burdened by a restless soul that refuses to be at peace until it sees its people on a path toward meaningful change.
While scrolling through social media, I came across an article reporting that farmers remain the poorest sector in the Philippines. This news is nothing new, but for some reason, this time, it hit differently. It struck a deeper chord.
I suddenly remembered the plea of my father, a farmer, who persistently urged me to finish school so I wouldn’t have to live the kind of life he did. “Mag-aral ka nang mabuti, anak, para hindi ka maging farmer tulad ko (study hard my son so you don’t end up a farmer like me).”
That night, back at my dormitory, I dove into more reading and research. The deeper I explored the plight of the farmers,[1] the closer I came to answering a personal question I had carried for a year, "What cause do I want to dedicate the next ten years of my life to, and beyond?"
Then it became clear. I had found a new mission, a newfound purpose. I want to walk alongside the farmers.
Abandoned Gold
It wasn’t until I met the farmers from my own village, Brgy. Guinoman, many of whom were friends of my late parents, that I realized where to begin. In April 2023, I had returned to the Philippines to conduct fieldwork for my graduate research. During this time, I visited not only my village but also neighboring ones, listening to the farmers and learning from their stories.
Across six (6) villages in Zamboanga Sibugay, I discovered that approximately 700 hectares had been planted with cacao seedlings around 2015 through government initiatives. However, due to lack of support and guidance, these farms had since been abandoned and left unproductive. While the task of rehabilitating these farms seemed daunting due to the resources required, the prevailing local and global market trends for cacao revealed a clear and compelling opportunity for the farmers.
Shortly after this realization, I co-founded a non-profit organization called PhilSEED,[2] together with my mentor and good friend, Dr. Anton Mari Lim, with whom I’ve worked for over a decade. We share a common vision of empowering underprivileged communities, especially our farmers.
To test our idea, my German classmate from LSE and close friend, Noah, helped develop a proposal around the central question: “Is cacao rehabilitation a viable model for poverty alleviation among cacao farmers in Zamboanga Sibugay?”The beta test was initially funded by Balangay,[3] an Australian non-profit. Midway through implementation, after promising initial insights,[4] the late Ambassador Howard Dee, through the Assisi Development Foundation, supported the expansion of the program.
What began with just fifteen farmers has now grown to benefit 130 farming families.
Farm to tablet
The cacao farm rehabilitation began in August 2023, and by April 2024, just nine months later, the farmers had already started harvesting. While the initial objective was simply to support farmers in restoring their abandoned farms, it quickly became clear that there was a significant gap in the market. Local buyers in the province were purchasing beans at prices far below the global average, and the market conditions were generally unstable and unreliable.
This realization led us to establish UMA,[5] a social enterprise designed to bridge this gap. At the core of UMA’s model is a commitment to purchase beans at fair prices, benchmarked against global market averages. Moreover, 70% of UMA’s net income is returned to the farmers, either as savings or through additional support, ensuring that the business serves not only as a buyer but as a long-term partner in the farmers' journey toward sustainable livelihoods. All this is done while upholding equity and sustainability across every stage of the value chain, from farm to finished product.
Now, only on its second harvest cycle, the unwavering determination of cacao farming communities, strengthened by the partnership and collaboration of key stakeholders such as Dalareich, DTI, DENR, DAR, The Australian Government, and the Provincial Government of Zamboanga Sibugay, proves that the path to a sustainable future is not only possible, but already taking root.
According to recent data from the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO), approximately 3,750 hectares were planted with three million cacao seedlings between 2016 and 2019. This tells us that much work still lies ahead, but so does enormous potential. If we can rally more stakeholders to join this movement, the outcomes for our cacao farmers could be transformative.
Even at this early stage, I am convinced that the collective commitment of all will one day be repaid in gold. And when I look back, as a farmer’s son, the conversation I once had with my father now carries a deeper meaning. Perhaps what he truly meant when he told me to study hard and do well in life was that I should learn all I can, then come back. Come back for those who were left behind, for the farmers like him.
As for London, it became my retreat, a quiet turning away that gave me space to rediscover the love and passion I carry for my people, once dimmed by a disillusioned heart.
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