The Quezon City government on Thursday, Feb. 8, launched the Vendor Business School (VBS) to improve the market vendors' knowledge on
entrepreneurship, business, food safety, market technology, climate change, and nutrition.

Around 140 market vendors will undergo 10 weekly workshops in five months of coaching and mentoring where they will be trained on how to do business that is not just about growing profits.

They will learn the impact of climate on their business; ways to ensure that their products are safe to eat; nutritional benefits of foods; and the  importance to recognize the family, including gender relations, which can significantly affect their business.

The program was launched by the local government in partnership with the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Resilient Cities Project, an international research group that aims to strengthen and improve the state of food flow or food systems in major cities around the world to achieve food security.

According to the city government, only two cities in the world have implemented the program -  Quezon City in the Philippines and Nairobi in Kenya.

It said that with the training, they are expecting the participants to manage markets in the city better.

“Bukod sa digital improvements katulad ng Market One Stop Shop (MOSS) at PalengQR programs na nagpapaganda sa pamamalakad sa mga palengke, layunin din ng MDAD sa pamamagitan ng VBS na maiangat ang antas ng pagnenegosyo ng mga vendor o tindero at tindera (Aside from digital improvements such as the Market One Stop Shop (MOSS) and PalengQR programs that improve the management of markets, MDAD also aims through VBS to raise the level of business of vendors or salesmen and shopkeepers),” Business Permits and Licensing Department head and concurrent Market Development Administration Department  (MDAD) Officer-in-Charge Margarita Santos said.

MOSS and PalengQR programs aim to make market purchases, market permits and other processes to be more accessible to residents and vendors in the city.
             
“Ang Vendor Business School ay nagbibigay halaga sa estado at kapakanan ng ating mga market vendors na may mahalagang papel na ginagampanan sa pagsasaayos ng ating public markets at pagdaloy ng pagkain sa ating lungsod. Layunin din ng VBS na mapalago ang kanilang mga negosyo, at makibahagi sila sa pangmatagalang layunin ng Quezon City na makamit ang food security (The Vendor Business School values ​​the state and welfare of our market vendors who have an important role to play in the regulation of our public markets and the flow of food in our city. VBS also aims to grow their businesses, and for them to participate in Quezon City's long-term goal of achieving food security),” Quezon City  Mayor Joy Belmonte said.

The city government said that a QC pilot team from the Market Development Administration Department (MDAD), Small Business Cooperative Development and Promotions Office (SBCDPO), and Quezon City Food Security Task Force (QC FSTF) secretariat underwent thorough training, with the help of CGIAR, to serve as guides for the market vendors during the program.

The workshops will start in February and will be held until July, 2024.

As an incentive for those who will complete the  VBS Program, the vendors will be qualified to be part of the SBCDPO's PangkabuhayangQC Program that gives P10,000 to P20,000 to help residents who want to start businesses.

VBS is a result of Quezon City's membership in the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), a group of cities that promote the improvement of food systems in the world to end hunger.

It is also part of Belmonte's GrowQC Food Security Program, an initiative to make healthy and nutritious food available  and create inclusive and sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable groups by converting idle lands across the city into productive, green and local urban farms, reducing transport and agriculture-related emissions (according to c40.org).

Present during the program's soft launching were Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto, City Administrator Mike Alimurung, QC Food Security Task Force Co-Chairperson Nonong Velasco,  Small Business Cooperatives Development and Promotions Office head Mona Yap, Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Department head Andrea Villaroman, Joy of Urban Farming head Tina Perez, Quezon City Food Security members, and CGIAR Resilient Cities Focal Person-Philippines Arma Bertuso.