BENGUET, Philippines – The Agricultural Training Institute is implementing the project entitled “Strengthening Farmers’ Competitiveness through Capability Building of Vegetable Growers in the Province of Benguet.” The said project is the Philippines’ proposal under the Capacity Building Project for the Farmer’s Organizations to Support the Development of Food Value Chain in ASEAN Countries (CBF Project) by the ASEAN Project Management Team (PMT), and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.
The Philippines’ project aims to strengthen the potential of farm clusters in Mankayan, Benguet to engage in farm business enterprise and improve their income. These shall be done through the conduct of learning activities for the three (3) selected Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs), provision of technical support, and linking of clustered FCAs to institutional buyers.
The project aspires for the clustered FCAs to venture into agro-enterprising, and eventually have a marketing agreement with an institutional buyer.
As such, CBF PMT’s Yukihiko Nakamura and Isabella Revina Wibowo together with ATI Director Rosana Mula, Career Development and Management Division (CDMD) Chief Editha Vinuya, Project Officer Emerson Yago, and Assistant Project Officer Theresa Aurora Cosico, met with the Jollibee Group Foundation’s (JGF) Executive Director Gisela Tiongson and Senior Program Manager Leo Cortez, which is one of the prospective institutional buyers of the project.
The meeting served as an avenue for the CBF Steering Committee to introduce the project, and for the JGF to discuss their accreditation requirements. The JGF, which was established in 2004, and several clustered farmers have been their long-time accredited suppliers for a decade. Both parties are looking forward to the successful implementation of the project.
The 5-day visit of the CBF PMT also includes a visit to the project site and meeting with its stakeholders such as the Provincial and Municipal Local Government Unit (P/MLGU) of Benguet and Mankayan, the Department of Agriculture Field Office in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-RFO CAR), and officers of the 3 FCAs.
The Philippines’ CBF Project will run from 2022-2024.
