CANDON, Ilocos Sur -- As the largest fast food chain company in the country, the Jollibee Group Corporation (JGC) through its corporate social responsibility arm, Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF), is helping lift the lives and labor of farmers in Ilocos Sur.
The Farmers Entrepreneurship Program (FEP) is one of the JGF's initiatives targeting the agriculture sector, particularly in empowering smallholder farmers to become agro-entrepreneurs who can supply directly to corporate buyers and institutional markets like the Jollibee Food Corporation (JFC).
The JGF is mandated to provide production trainings, capacity-building, agri-technology funds for soil regeneration for instance, and help cooperatives or farmers receive PHILGAP certifications, as well as monitor their daily operations. They also build consolidation areas for groups to plan and sort their commodities, along with promoting food safety and good agricultural practices (GAP).
FEP also offers scholarships on agro-entrepreneurship and agro-enterprising to boost farmers among the youth.
FEP has 25 farmer groups nationwide that supply and deliver over 10,000 metric tons of vegetables to JFC, majority of which include white onions, and varieties of bell peppers. Most of the groups are located in Luzon, with plans for further expansion to Visayas and Mindanao.
JGF Senior Program Officer Jan Paolo Vicente said they have begun forging further partnerships with farm groups in Ilocos Norte and Central Luzon, and are coaching five sets of new partners to deliver to the company under FEP. Next year, the foundation seeks to increase its number of farmer partners.
FEP in action
One of JGF’s implementing partners for the program in Galimuyod, Ilocos Sur is the Sacred Heart Savings Cooperative (SHSC) that supports over 61,000 members, 40 percent of which are farmers.
SHSC Business Development Center (BDC) Head Stephanie Labcaen said the cooperative primarily focuses on projects targeting the agriculture sector in the town to relieve the financial burdens of farmers, majority of whom apply for its loan offers.
FEP utilizes a clustering approach, with clusters consisting of 10 to 15 farmers, who supply the set volume and quality of produce, sent to JGF. Each farmer is required to deliver up to 2,500 kilos of their respective commodities per harvest season, which they call “commitments.”
For 2024, SHSC aims to deliver 160 metric tons of white onions from seven clusters, comprising 70 farmers, for the cropping season which occurs from October to March.
SHSC Consultancy and Marketing Specialist Mario Collado said they have begun to see the effects of El Nino, and are seeing a potential decrease in harvest due to the changing climate. To help farmers retain their commitments, they have reduced the individual requirements to 2,000 kilos.
Generally, SHSC strictly enforces the commitments requirement, but the amount is subject to change depending on the outcome of the farmers’ harvest. In case farmers fall short of the expected volume, the cooperative informs the buyer beforehand of the reduced supply.
To facilitate an organized rollout, the FEP has trained farmers to generate supply and planting plans. Labcaen said the plans are done before the farmers start planting. They coordinate how much they will contribute or how many seeds they will plant per farmer and per cluster.
SHSC utilizes a staggered planting schedule by at least a week per cluster to accommodate all farmers and prevent an oversupply of commodities. This is also implemented to ensure they have a buffer stock in case the earlier harvests fail.
Sorted vegetables that have passed quality control are directly delivered to the Jollibee commissary in Calamba, Laguna. This year, the SHSC recorded around 10 to 7 tons per delivery per week. Off-size onions or onions that are 1.5 and below in diameter, are sold to the local market.
Around 80 percent of its supply goes to Jollibee, while 20 percent is sold to the local market.
Vicente emphasized that the JFC does not import vegetables for use in its food franchises, excluding emergency cases notably during the onion crisis.
Labcaen also said that they sell their produce at a fair market price, wherein the producers conduct monthly negotiations with their buyers like JFC to determine the appropriate pricing for their goods that covers marketing and production costs.
Fit for farmers
Tagudin Agroentrepreuners Association (TAA) is SHSC’s first group of farmers created under FEP in 2013. They have been delivering white onions to JFC since 2015 with a current farmer-base of 51 members and counting.
Around 80 percent of farmers in TAA plant on rental lands, while 20 percent use the farms owned by their families.
The main draw of the FEP for farmers is the stability of JFC’s fixed market and the opportunity for direct selling with buyers.
Ireneo Alberto, chairperson of TAA, said in his experiences for the last 30 years of farming vegetables, selling white onions under FEP have resulted in higher income compared to other crops.
“Marami naman kaming natatanim kaya lang ang buyer kasi kung minsan mataas or mababa, hindi katulad ng Jollibee na steady ang prices. Kahit bumaba sa market, nakastable sila sa presyo. Talagang mas malaki ang kikitain mo sa pagtatanim kung may buyer (We used to plant a lot, but the buyer sometimes offers high or low prices, unlike Jollibee that has steady prices. They still have stable prices even if prices in the market are down. Income is really bigger with a buyer),” he said.
Like Alberto, other farmers such as Mangmanga Cluster Leader Rodolfo Saramiento, and TAA Youth Farmer Member Mark Anthony Lastimosa were tobacco farmers before shifting to vegetable farming under FEP.
They cited the laborious process of tobacco farming compared to farming onions and bell peppers. Lastimosa, whose family transitioned to white onion farming in 2020, said that tobacco farming also generates high earnings, but undergoes a tedious workload. Alberto added that since tobacco processing requires more manpower, the majority of his profits are used to pay his workers.
Saramiento shared that they underwent training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to fulfill the requirements of FEP. Trainers also conduct on-site production training for farming so that farmers can more easily follow the instructions and processes.
Grace Domasing, secretary of the Tamac cluster in Villaviciosa, Abra, remarked on the difficulty of farming without people technicians to conduct assessments, leading to wasted harvests if grown without the proper use of fertilizers and other farming practices.
Through her membership with the SHSC and FEP, she said she was able to hone her farming skills, learn more about taking care of plants, and being able to lift her conditions in life.
Even then, unpredictable weather and other crises, whether socio-economic or political, can remain present and disruptive to the ecosystem and relationship built by the farmers with their buyers.
If crops fail, due to typhoons or other natural calamities, farmers said they still try to harvest what they can salvage, even the leaves of crops, to sell to the local market to gain some income.
Raising youth farmers
Around 30 percent of farmers in the SHSC belong to the youth. Labcaen said the cooperative is aiming to launch initiatives to encourage more young people to engage with the agriculture sector.
Clinton Guieb, 22, was a FEP trainee when he was 18 years-old. He was able to absorb the learnings in the sessions to maintain his family’s 4,000 square meter farm in Sta. Cruz with his brother. His crops, including tomatoes, white onions, red bell peppers and Sultan peppers, are parts of the produce sold to JGF.
June Batao-ey, a licensed agricultural engineer, FEP scholar and SHSC member, said he was able to pursue his passion for farming through the scholarship he received under the FEP. He was able to apply his learnings, and hopes to realize his dream of properly producing products in compliance to the demands of JFC.
Having been exposed to farming from his family since he was a kid, he was able to turn his farm into a business enterprise through FEP, which he wants to be a model for all farmers, especially young people who aspire to farm, and to further develop business-minded farmers and use science and technology in farming in the long run.
“Napakahalaga, lalo sa mga batang gusto magfarm ngayon, na sumama tayo sa mga kooperatiba at maghanap tayo ng institutional markets na magbibigay satin ng assured at steady na pagbebentahan. Ipursue natin ang dream ng ating bansa na magkaroon ng food security (It’s important, especially for young aspiring farmers, to join cooperatives and search for institutional markets that will give assured and steady markets. Let’s pursue the dream of our country to achieve food security),” expressed Batao-ey.
Michael Lorica, the 38-year-old general manager of the TAA, has been farming for 15 years as the first farmer in his family. Since joining the FEP, he has shifted from farming corn to white onions.
“Kailangan po natin ng pagkain. Mga bata po ngayon, ayaw na mag farming. Sa tulong na rin po ng Jollibee at Sacred Heart, nagcoconduct sila ng training para sa mga kabataan (We need food. Youth nowadays don't want to farm. With the help of Jollibee and Sacred Heart, they are able to conduct trainings for young people)," he said.
Areas for growth
The farmers, the cooperative, and the JGF have all expressed the effectiveness of the program. However, they agreed that there are still many rooms for improvement that can be done for FEP.
Labcaen said they are looking into more research projects to make farming more productive for farmers and improve the yield of products while using the same amount of inputs.
Information dissemination and awareness campaigns on weather and climate are also of utmost priority to the cooperative in order to properly equip farmers with the necessary knowledge.
As an implementing partner, SHSC is also hoping to build more linkages aside from the JGF and Department of Agriculture (DA) to supply the technological needs of farmers and enhance their marketing equipment, said Labcaen.
On the foundation’s side, the JGF is also keen on improving technologies to make farming practices more efficient.
Currently, the FEP includes off-season trial or experimental trials during the dry season to test the growth and potential of growing white onion crops in places like Benguet and in Visayas and Mindanao.
Vicente also stressed that the JGF is exploring options and avenues to provide crop insurance amid the vast erratic changes in weather seen in the country.
“Tinitingnan din namin sa JGF kung ano pa ang pwede namin matulong in terms of financing. May mga kinakausap kaming organizations or micro-financing institutions na baka pwede makapagbuo ng isang program para sa mga groups namin na wala o hirap makakuha ng access sa financing (We’re looking at what else we can do to help in terms of financing. We are communicating with organizations and micro-financing institutions that can possibly make programs to help our farmer groups who have no access or have difficulty accessing finances),” said Vicente.