Some of the country’s biggest agriculture companies and key government agencies met last week to begin the roadmap for the Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program (KALAP), a public-private sector initiative that aims to bridge small farmers and large agribusiness companies. KALAP stands to benefit small farmers by incorporating them into the value chain of large agribusiness companies and create jobs in the agricultural sector. A statement from Go Negosyo, whose founder Joey Concepcion is the senior adviser for KALAP, said that the discussion between the government agencies centered on “documenting the inclusive business models that are already being implemented by KALAP’s pioneer big-brother companies.” KALAP, whose ceremonial signing was signed by Concepcion and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in Malacañang earlier this month, is an initiative to harness the private sector to help small farmers across the Philippines. The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with several government agencies were signed last March 6 and are seen as instruments to transform the country’s agriculture industry. Concepcion and former Agriculture secretary William Dar presided over the meeting. Also in attendance were Toby Gatchalian of Metro Pacific Agriventures, Christian Moeller of Lionheart Farms, James Amparo of Yovel East, Joey Uy of Nestlé Phils., Tennyson Chen and Carl Chung of Bounty Fresh, Nando Cojuangco of Central Azucarera de Tarlac, Winston Uy of Universal Leaf, and Simon Bakker of Kennemer Foods. Engr. Eddie Guillen of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Allen Capuyan and Glenda Pua of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) were also present as part of the agencies which formally agreed to participate in KALAP. The primary agricultural commodities and industries that KALAP wants to focus on are rice, coconut, tobacco, coffee, cacao, sugarcane and corn/feeds/livestock. KALAP is part of the larger Kapatid Angat Lahat initiative, which was first conceived by Go Negosyo in 2016. Some of the biggest companies in the Philippines and most of the largest business organizations have pledged for Kapatid Angat Lahat, and renewed their commitment at the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Summit in August 2022.