The AGRI Party-list has lauded the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) for paving the way for the institutionalization of ‘agripreneurship,’ and empowering farmers to generate new streams of revenue by providing them with opportunities to venture into a more feasible, economically viable, profitable, and sustainable way of farming and agribusiness.
“Agripreneurship is vital in our goal of scaling up agriculture in the context of a global economy and redefining the image of farmers from poor and uneducated into agripreneurs who are literate, innovative, and tech-savvy,” AGRI Party-list first nominee and former judge Frank Lobrigo said.
“This will also shift the focus of farmers and fisherfolks from production orientation to a market-driven orientation while simultaneously improving food sufficiency and security.”
“We congratulate the ATI for actively using available information and communication technology to create an electronic and interactive bridge for farmers, fishers, and other stakeholders. We support their goal of providing up-to-date agriculture and agriculture-related information and knowledge,” he added.
AGRI Party-list defines agripreneurship as entrepreneurship focused on agriculture and the allied sector.
Created in 1987, the ATI is the extension and training arm of the DA, mandated to train agricultural extension workers and their beneficiaries and lead in the delivery of e-extension services for agriculture and fisheries.
The former judge said the work pioneered by the ATI “will not only significantly advance diversification and improvement of the value-adding activities of various agribusiness enterprises, but also embrace a more inclusive growth of rural development and a food-secure Philippines.”
“By awakening the entrepreneurial spirit of Filipino farmers and fisherfolks and capacitating them on the concept of agripreneurship, they will be equipped with the necessary skills to become entrepreneurs along the agribusiness value chain.”
“This will also shift the focus of farmers and fisherfolks from production orientation to a market-driven orientation while simultaneously improving food sufficiency and security,” he stressed.
Lobrigo said the AGRI Party-list is considering partnering with the ATI to operationalize agriprenurship and designing an Agripreneurship Education to integrate entrepreneurial activities in agriculture in an online certificate course delivered via the institute’s e-Learning Portal.
“This could be implemented by designing training sessions in partnership with investors, various agro-enterprise agencies, production experts, and marketing experts. Topics could nvolve market gap and opportunity identification, capital management, product development, marketing strategies, market segment development, and bookkeeping,” he said.
“By awakening the entrepreneurial spirit of Filipino farmers and fisherfolks and capacitating them on the concept of agripreneurship, they will be equipped with the necessary skills to become entrepreneurs along the agribusiness value chain,” Lobrigo concluded.
