Go Negosyo Founder Jose “Joey” Maria Concepcion III batted for a franchising model to grow the agriculture sector, stressing that unless the agriculture sector will grow as much as the industry’s, the entire Philippine economy will not achieve inclusive growth.

PFA President Chris Lim

In a speech at the opening of the two-day International Franchise Conference with the theme “Franchising Fast Forward” organized by the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) on Wednesday, June 7, Concepcion said there are opportunities to grow the agriculture sector through a franchising model, particularly for the micro and small farmers. He said the focus of Go Negosyo now is to help Filipino farmers be more productive by becoming part of the overall supply chain. He noted that the agriculture sector just accounts for 0.3 percent of the domestic economy while the industry’s contribution to GDP is 1.7 percent. “Unless the agriculture sector contribute beyond the 0.3 three percent and to the industry level, the lives of these farmers will not change,” he warned. The Private Sector Lead for Jobs in the Private-Sector Advisory Council for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said that farmers need to be resilient to be more progressive. This is where the role of the PFA should come into play, which is to mentor the farmers to improve and be able to earn more. “How can we make agriculture follow the PFA model? Simple, they need mentors, for farmers in corn, tobacco, coconut, cacao.  The idea is bring these mentors in and embrace the micro enterprises.  Embrace the farmers and include them in the value chain,” he said noting that these farmers do not even have working capital to start with. “Let us help micro enterprises to reach your level, give them more encouragement and confidence,” he urged the gathering of franchisers and franchisees. This is because if farmers’ income grows, he said, they will become a huge and empowered consumers. He also noted that the agrarian reform plans of Department of Agrarian Reform is perfectly aligned with the objective of improving the income of farmers. He noted that the small farm lots that most farmers could not even be eligible for mortgage. PFA President Chris Lim agreed with Concepcion stressing that agriculture is a big untapped opportunity. Lim said that agriculture franchising in PFA is still very minimal, accounting for less than a percent of total. In fact, Lim can only recall two agriculture franchises — Agrivet and a firm engage in using drones to spray fertilizer over agricultural plantations in Mindanao. “We look at supporting them,” he said. This includes closing the gap in terms of logistics and sourcing to create opportunities for franchising for small farmers. He said that the latest data showed that franchising accounts for 7.8 percent of GDP or $28 billion. The industry is expected to grow 12-15 percent this year in terms of revenue. At least 50 percent of total franchises in the Philippines are engaged in food business, followed by services such as healthcare, pharmacies. But said they would push for franchising in agriculture. The Philippines is the seventh largest franchising market globally. Some 30 Filipino brands have already gone global.