The small agricultural enterprises of the Philippine archipelago, mostly family-run, suffer heavily from competition from imported agricultural products, which are cheaper and often of higher quality. In fact, both the impossibility of accessing a wider market, and the ignorance of modern cultivation techniques, and the lack of the technological aspect weigh unfavourably. To overcome these serious problems, a foundation engaged in social work, the SM Foundation, which belongs to the SM Companies industrial group, has launched a theoretical and practical training program for the owners of small and medium-sized farms. The project, called Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) Farmers' Training Program, aims to increase both the quantity and quality of products from these types of farms. Started in 2007 with 102 farmers from 8 municipalities, it has grown rapidly, extending to the whole archipelago and involving thousands of small businesses. THE
The program starts from the basics and, taking nothing for granted, teaches – or re-teaches – farmers how to prepare the soil, how to choose seeds, how to protect and nurture seedlings and how to harvest. Particular attention is then dedicated to marketing techniques. The theoretical part is then followed by a practical one, in which the participants in the program are asked to apply in their own fields, under the guidance of the teachers, what they have studied at school. Even after the end of the training course, farmers are not left alone: the SM Foundation, in fact, undertakes to hold a forum in which farmers can exchange information and be updated on sector news. One of the key elements of the success of this initiative is the connection that the foundation has been able to implement between these "graduated" farmers and important distribution groups, both Asian - such as the hypermarkets and supermarkets of the SM Companies - and Western, such as Walter Mart and savemore. These large retail chains are in fact required to obtain supplies preferably from companies that have joined the KSK Farmers' Training Program.
Attachments: The Inquirer article
