(In photo: Representatives from JGF, PUM Netherlands, and ALCAVEGA during an advise-on-location mission at a farm in Nueva Vizcaya). The partnership between JGF and PUM provided FEP farmer groups with practical knowledge on soil health and fertilizer management, enabling farmers to improve their productivity and lower their production costs.

MANILA, Philippines. 26 December 2024 – Crop pest infestation remains an issue among several Filipino farmers. Farmers can suffer from reduced crop yields and increased production costs without proper knowledge of pest and fertilizer management. Since 2023, pests such as fall armyworms, locally known as harabas, and black bugs have severely damaged the crops in certain areas in Luzon. The infestation has resulted in yield losses ranging from 50 to 70 percent. In August 2024, the Department of Agriculture (DA) also reported that armyworms infested 3,237 hectares of crops in Western Visayas, recording damages worth Php57 million. These challenges affect farmers’ livelihoods and may also put the country’s food security at risk.

Seeking to help the farmers address these matters, Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF), the social development arm of Jollibee Group, has partnered with PUM Netherlands. The Dutch non-profit volunteer organization is known for supporting small businesses in developing countries to help enhance the farmers’ productivity, efficiency, market competitiveness, and sustainable growth.

The partnership began seven years ago and was made possible by a meeting at the Dutch Ambassador’s residence. Since then, PUM Netherlands has shared various agri-innovation techniques and practical technologies that have changed how the Farmer Entrepreneurship Program (FEP) farmers approach agriculture and helped JGF identify possible interventions.

“While we can see that access to market and financing are already providing the farmers with better income, the way to sustain their profit is by having access to modern technologies and skills that can further improve their yield and sustainable farming practice while lowering their production costs,” JGF President Gisela Tiongson said.

Transformative impact

JGF and PUM organized four advise-on-location missions and four remote coaching sessions from 2019 to 2024. Over 500 FEP farmers have benefitted from the said partnership.

After the sessions, farmers learned reliable and optimized fertilizer usage for soil health regeneration. They also gained vital knowledge on proper pest and disease identification to manage pests effectively without overly relying on synthetic inputs and harmful chemicals.

In turn, the environmentally-friendly practices have allowed the farmers to grow healthier and higher-quality crops for their institutional clients like Jollibee Group.

The PUM experts visited the farms of FEP farmer groups and local implementing partners, namely Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), Sacred Heart Savings Cooperative (SHSC), Kalasag Multipurpose Cooperative, Onion and Vegetables Producers Cooperative (OVEPCO), Alfonso Castaneda Vegetable Growers Association, Inc. (ALCAVEGA), Lourdes Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and MAGSAMAKAME farmers’ cooperative.

Amidst various agricultural challenges, mostly prevalent among tropical countries like the Philippines, the partnership between JGF and PUM sought to empower farmers, improve their livelihood, and enhance their productivity through knowledge sharing, upskilling, and agri-innovation as aligned with the Jollibee Group’s sustainability agenda.