BACOLOD CITY — Farmers in Negros Occidental will now be able to sell their produce directly to the country’s leading fast food chains.
This will be made possible through the deep procurement partnership, which was entered into by the Province of Negros Occidental with the Jollibee Group Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), under its Farmer Entrepreneurship Program (FEP).
Provincial Planning and Development Officer Ma. Lina Sanogal represented Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. during the signing of the memorandum of agreement with the foundation at Mercure Manila Ortigas in Pasig City on Thursday.
Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino, who witnessed the signing rites, said the agreement will drastically change the farming arrangement for Negrense farmers.
“It would mean more interventions not only on the production side, but also in the entire farming chain. It would now be production directly to the market plus value formation,” he added.
Masculino said Jollibee sources out raw materials like vegetables and other crops from its farmer-partners, and without middlemen, the farmers’ profit will be improved.
In Negros Occidental, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) has initially identified as farmer-partners members of a farmers’ association in Barangay Patag, Silay City.
Next month, the provincial government will identify at least five personnel from the OPA, Silay City Agriculture Office and academe, who will be nominated as “change agents”.
Masculino said the Jollibee Group Foundation will select three “change agents” from the pool of nominees, who will focus on guiding the farmers in improving their production.
They will undergo a one-year training, which includes lectures and practicum to be conducted by Jollibee, starting this August.
The “change agents”, through their practicum, will help farmers strengthen their organization, Masculino said.
“We will start with one farmer-organization, but eventually we will expand,” he added.
The Jollibee Group Foundation launched the FEP in 2008 to improve small farmers’ income by linking them to the supply chain of institutional markets like JFC, which owns Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, among others. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
