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Comval Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative (COFAMCO) is a small cooperative in Barangay Camanlangan, New Bataan, Davao de Oro, Philippines, with total assets of Php 10.4 million before joining the Copra Capacity Development Project (CCDP) in 2024. At the time, it served 172 members, mainly within the municipality. Its primary sources of income were copra trading and a small community consumer store.

Despite its limited capacity, COFAMCO showed a strong willingness to improve. Its leaders were open to learning, adopting better practices, and making difficult changes. This commitment was one reason the CCDP selected COFAMCO as one of its five partner cooperatives. However, the cooperative faced challenges in governance, financial management, trading operations, and human resources as identified during the conduct of a Cooperative Capacity Assessment that shaped the Development Planning process.

The Key Challenge

Driven by a clear vision to grow and better serve its members and community, COFAMCO chose to face these challenges one step at a time. Rather than being discouraged by the many constraints, the cooperative remained committed to finding practical solutions and building a stronger enterprise.

One of COFAMCO's biggest challenges was its inadequate copra warehouse. The cooperative used an old multipurpose hall as a temporary storage facility, which provided little protection from rain, heat, humidity, pests and even pilferage. As a result, copra quality often declined, leading to post-harvest losses and deductions at the oil mill.

The warehouse also stood on land with unclear ownership and was located beside the community basketball court, causing operational disruptions and limiting future improvements. During peak harvest, the small storage space quickly became full, forcing the cooperative to turn away farmer deliveries. Limited capacity also meant that some copra had to be sold before reaching the ideal state, resulting in lower prices and reduced income.

With very limited resources, COFAMCO made sure that they maintained a strong relationship with their partner oil mill, New Asia Oil Inc., in Davao City. Their known loyalty and ability to meet volume requirements helped them stay afloat despite the external and internal economic shocks through the preferential incentives provided by the partner mill.

Strategic Investments for Business Growth

In its first quarter of operations, the cooperative exceeded its warehouse capacity target, achieving 101% of the planned volume and 144% of its net income target.

With greater warehouse capacity and a more accessible buying station, the influx of copra supply equates to an increase in the volume of transactions. This also means COFAMCO must strengthen its internal financial controls, adjust its staffing requirements, and acquire additional assets to support the growing operations.

To address this, the cooperative hired an additional finance staff member to segregate cash handling from recording functions, strengthening internal controls and fund management. It also instituted daily cash counts through the Audit and Inventory Committee. Staff reported greater confidence and reduced stress, attributing these improvements to the strengthened system of checks and balances.

Another key investment was the acquisition of a new delivery truck to improve the efficiency of copra deliveries to the mill. The truck was acquired through the support of their partner oil mill – valued at around $14,000 – a few months after the new warehouse and buying station became operational.