Peace advocate Rey Anthony Anacleto was always involved in community initiatives in college. His experience in engaging communities inspired him to co-establish Peace Crops, a non-government organization that provides livelihood opportunities for underserved and displaced communities in Mindanao.  

After the 2017 Marawi Siege, Anacleto taught out-of-school Maranao youth about agro-enterprise, to help them overcome economic challenges. This project showed him the value of agriculture as a tool in peace building to address the root cause of violent extremism - poverty. 

Expanding to other sectors - women, farmers, and local leaders - Peace Crops promoted the adoption of agro-enterprise technology to help affected communities recover from the effects of armed conflict. “What started as an engagement to promote peace and security, evolved into a food security initiative,” said Anacleto.

Peace Crops has since extended its mission to cover public health, by working with the local government in Bukidnon for its COVID-19 vaccination campaign for indigenous people’s communities. “Contextualizing materials using the native language and working with influential leaders helped encourage tribal members to get a jab,” shared Anacleto.  

“At Peace Crops, we believe that through technology, we can influence more young advocates to become social builders for peace and movers towards creating a better society,” he said. Hoping to inspire more youth to be active in their communities, Anacleto uses social media to showcase stories from the communities they are engaging in.