The Jollibee Group is doubling down on its commitment to inclusive business practices by empowering smallholder farmers and fostering sustainable livelihoods through its flagship initiative, the Farmer Entrepreneurship Program (FEP).

To highlight these efforts, the company’s Corporate Communications team, in collaboration with its social development arm, the Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF), organized a series of farm tours for media representatives and agriculture content creators. The tours provided firsthand insights into FEP’s holistic approach to transforming smallholder farmers into agro-entrepreneurs while showcasing success stories from across the country.

"Farmers livelihood is a key focus area of our sustainability agenda. Through the up-to-date and expansive FEP interventions and collaborations, we can help enhance the smallholder farmers' practices and mindsets, and transform them into empowered agro-entrepreneurs," said Jollibee Group Chief Sustainability and Public Affairs Officer Pepot Miñana

The FEP is JGF's flagship program, empowering smallholder farmers nationwide with holistic interventions designed to transform them into agro-entrepreneurs. 

Through comprehensive training and development, access to financing, market linkage support, and capacity-building resources, FEP enhances their productivity and equips them with the entrepreneurial skills and mindset needed to thrive in a challenging agricultural landscape. 

To ensure the successful implementation of FEP in different localities, JGF collaborates with various internal and external stakeholders, including the Jollibee Group procurement and logistics and manufacturing team, government agencies, local implementing partners, academic institutions, international organizations, and local farmer groups.

Content creators farm tour in Laguna

On July 22, agriculture and food content creators visited the farmlands of the AGAP Farmers of Pangil, Laguna (AFAP) and AGAP Farmers of Magalolon-Kalayaan, Laguna (AFAM) in the first ever media tour held in the FEP farms of Rizal and Laguna. 

AFAP and AFAM farmers are members of the microfinance institution Ahon Sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI), which has been a reliable FEP partner since 2013. ASHI launched the ASHI Grameen Agricultural Program (AGAP) in 2010 to reach more farmers in different areas and organize them into becoming agri-entrepreneurs. In 2022, AGAP became the first group in Luzon to deliver directly to Chowking branches in Laguna. It has delivered 45,000 kilos of mixed vegetables to select Chowking stores. AFAP and AFAM farmers have also delivered mixed vegetables such as cabbage, spring onion, and bell peppers to select Chowking stores in Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite Extension since 2023.

National and regional media farm tour in Cebu

Jollibee Group and JGF also organized a farm tour in Cebu on October 16 to highlight the collaboration with Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC), a trusted FEP local implementing partner since 2013. 

Participants from national and local media outlets learned about stories of successes in farming and adoption of new and innovative farming technologies from the FEP farmers themselves as they visited three farmlands and the Agro-Enterprise Resource Center (AERC), which LMPC facilitates. 

Apart from the FEP, the Jollibee Group also provides opportunities to underprivileged Filipino youth through JGF’s Access, Curriculum, and Employability (ACE) Scholarship Program. The Foundation has strengthened its ACE curriculum in recent years and established several AERCs across the country to help institutionalize the practice of agro-entrepreneurship. LMPC, also a local implementing partner of the scholarship program, has trained 90 ACE scholars on agro-entrepreneurship since 2022.

“As we showcase the inspiring stories of our FEP farmers, we are reminded of the vital role the media plays in bringing awareness to important matters such as this. By shedding light on the challenges faced by Filipino farmers and highlighting the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders to support them, the media helps amplify the impact of initiatives like ours. We sincerely thank our media partners for their commitment to telling these stories and for helping us drive awareness and action towards inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods,” said Miñana.

The LMPC has started supplying select Jollibee Group brands stores with assorted vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and spring onions in 2014. LMPC farmers have delivered 83,000 kilos of vegetables to the company in 2023 and 42,000 kilos of vegetables as of July 2024. 

Meanwhile, since its inception in 2008, the nFEP has already accredited 30 farmer groups and have collectively delivered 12 million kilos of fresh vegetables with more than P600 million worth of sales to Jollibee Group.

As the Jollibee Group continues to grow and expand its business, the company commits itself to sustaining the FEP, further promoting entrepreneurship, education, and sustainable practices among Philippine farming communities.