CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines – The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) is keen on pushing for the formation of an organic certification body early next year, in a move by the local business sector to boost organic farming in Cebu.

CCCI chairman for external affairs Nestor Archival announced that a program called “Cebu Organic Movement” was recently created given the strong demand for organic products here.

He said the Chamber is set to partner with the Cebu City Government and the Cebu Provincial Government to help materialize the plan. Initially, the program was given a budget allocation of P300,000 from the Department of Agriculture (DA), said Archival.

The project consists of maintaining at least one or two demo-farms, approximately 1,000 square meters of land located in the north and south parts of Cebu, for organic farming to be put up jointly by the Cebu City government and the provincial government.

“We intend to raise organically grown vegetables, fruits and other livestock. This will be a sustainable demo-organic farm,” Archival told reporters recently.

He said that the creation of a legitimate organic certifying body will create strong awareness among locals to develop their own organic farms where they can sell organic produce for business purposes.

“In the long term, organic products produced in Cebu could be exported. But we initially have to address the increasing demand for organic products here,” Archival said.

Without, a local certifying body, Archival said it is expensive to get a certification from national and foreign certifying bodies.