10 young Kalinga agripreneurs qualify for P350k agribusiness project

Tabuk City, Kalinga – Ten young agripreneurs will own seven various enterprises in Kalinga after they qualified for the Kabataang Agribiz Competitive Grant Assistance Program.

They were awarded P50, 000 each enterprise to fund the cost of their proposed businesses.

Awardees are Rona June Abuan with a business proposal of Abuan Broiler Raising; Giovanni Addatu with Swine Fattening Production; Harvey Atas with Table Grape Production; and Karl Denver Oyando with Duck Farming: Utilizing Variations of Harvested Products Up to its Full Potential and Marketing Down to its Cheapest Price.

Also awarded are Michael Miller Picat with Goat Production; Jetty Gay Cabannag and Rachel Dalimag with Pekin Duck for Egg Production/Jera’s Farm; and Katherine Bernabice, Brandon Compas, Christian August Dagohoy with Mushroomystique Vive.

The grants were conferred during the virtual ‘Young Farmers Challenge Provincial Level Awarding’ aired by the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera on October 11, 2021, through its Facebook page.

Young Farmers Challenge Fund

DA explained ‘the Young Farmers Challenge Fund (Kabataang Agribiz Competitive Grant Assistance Program) is a competitive financial grant assistance program for the youth who will engage in agri-fishery based enterprises.’

Launched on April 14, 2021, the grant aims to ‘ignite the motivation of the younger generation to venture into agriculture production, processing or marketing and ensure financial grant assistance to interested youth.’

This is following the department’s assessment that the average age of farmers is 57 as of 2018.

“Further, the number of farmworkers has been declining over the past years to around 1.5% since 2017 and a reduction in agricultural employment from 11.84 million in 2015 to 9.8 million in 2020 has been observed,” the department added.

In the Cordillera region, a total of 110 young entrepreneurs joined the Young Farmers Challenge Fund. 79 of which were able to present their Business Model Canvasses (BMC), simplified templates to visualize a business concept in a straightforward way.

BMCs submitted were presented to the provincial panel of judges. The criteria for judging include entrepreneur attitude, innovativeness, revenue stream of the business proposal, and value addition.

DA-CAR announced that 50 model canvasses were able to qualify for the project implementation. 2 of which are from Abra, 4 from Apayao, 7 each from Baguio City, Kalinga and Mt. Province, 9 from Ifugao, and 14 from Benguet.

The funds shall be downloaded to the Landbank accounts of the awardees pending the completion and compliance with accounting rules and regulations, especially on documentary requirements.

Upon claiming their prizes, provincial winners shall implement their proposals right away.

DA-CAR reiterated that the prizes are not for personal use but will serve as start-up capital for the planned innovative agri-based micro-enterprise.

“We are challenging everyone to do your best, ipakita niyo ang inyong galing,” Regional Technical Director (RTD) for Operations Danilo Daguio said.

The Provincial Winners will vie for the regional competition where 3 winners will be given P150,000 for each enterprise and 6 winners nationwide will get P300, 000 each.

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