AVANT GARDENER

A major problem in the Philippine agriculture industry is the lack of farmers’ direct access to the buyer. Another major problem is a lack of professionalization among many small farmers, which leads to mistrust among institutional buyers who require a set quota and quality of produce.

Some local businesses who rely on fresh produce and want to support local farmers have tried to remedy this by forging partnerships with farmer groups and cooperatives.

The Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) has been supporting local farmers via its Farmer Entrepreneurship Program (FEP), where, according to FEP literature, the program “helps farmers become agro-entrepreneurs that can do collective marketing and supply institutional markets such as the Jollibee Group.”

JGF works with farmer collectives to source supplies of different vegetables for their various brands. One such collective is SHSC in turn organized a cluster of farmers in Tagudin, Ilocos Sur and partnered with the Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College to create the Tagudin Agropreneurs Association (TAA), which supplies the Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) with tons of white onions.

Stephania P. Labcaen, SHSC Business Development Head, explained that membership is voluntary, and even then, not all farmers were on board with planting white onions at first, since they were used to planting red onions. Some even refused to believe that they were going to be selling straight to Jollibee. But once the program got underway, it was easier for members to stay motivated. “Even if… they had challenges like their crops wouldn’t grow or they were hit by a storm, they keep persevering because they know that they’ll get (their profit) back in the next harvest,” she explained in Tagalog.

TAA delivers onions to JFC every week. They are given a set quota and quality they have to reach with each delivery. But how do they do this, given that in the Philippines, onions are harvested only twice a year, and that’s aside from the constant threats of pests, diseases, and natural disasters?? The answer is planting according to a schedule decided in advance by each cluster, which includes a buffer stock that can be used if supplies aren’t enough. There’s at least a week’s interval between planting to ensure that, say, the main crop is wiped out by a typhoon, there’s still something to harvest and sell a week after.

Michael Lorica is a white onion farmer from Tagudin, Ilocos Sur. He is also the General Manager of the Tagudin Agroentrepreneurs Association (TAA), many of whom also plant white onions. A farmer for 38 years, he said that before the farmers switched crops, many of them used to cultivate tobacco, but he himself used to plant corn. While he owns his land, many farmers rent theirs. His decision to plant white onions was simple: it made money because there was a ready buyer. 

He said that when he was planting corn, he stood to earn about ₱40,000 per harvest for a 4,000 sqm field. And though he wouldn’t disclose figures, he said that he earns more than that. About 80 percent of his onion harvests (approx. 2,000 kilos) go to JFC, which has strict standards that all farmers have to adhere to. The rest are sold in the local market. He said that aside from the cooperative, who among other things, picked the onion variety for them, the farmers also have the support of the local government, who sometimes sponsors fertilizers and seeds. 

TAA, in particular, is composed of 51 farmers who have a quota of 10-17 tons of white onions per delivery, which as of the interview is once a week during harvest season. The farmers follow a planting schedule so that there isn’t an overflow or understocking of onions, and also so that should a typhoon pass through the province, they will still have something to harvest the week after.

By working with cooperatives such as SHSC who in turn organize farmer groups like TAA, JGF supports small farmers by being a sure buyer for their produce. The farmers in turn provide a local source for the Jollibee Group’s fresh ingredients. 

Small farmers still have a long way to go. They’re still some of the poorest and most underappreciated sectors in Philippine society. Reforms in the agricultural industry are not instant and will take time to achieve. A food giant partnering with local farmers for fresh produce instead of importing their needs (which in some cases might even come out cheaper) is a good start. 

Farmers should be trained and treated as entrepreneurs. They aren’t charity cases but businesspeople. They need support, not handouts. The Jollibee Group Foundation’s Farmer Entrepreneurship Program is one way to instill this mindset. The more farmers are able to earn, the more young people will be encouraged to go into farming.