Butuan’s ‘AgriBoost’ a game-changer in vegetable production
By Renelle Escuadro
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) -- “AgriBoost has motivated the farmers in Butuan City to engage in vegetable farming, and they are now enjoying the good results of the program.”
This was the statement of Pierre Anthony D. Joven, head of the Butuan City Agriculture and Veterinary Department (CAVD), as he discussed the transformational role of AgriBoost in motivating farmers to diversify and plant vegetables on their farmlands during his recent interview with ButuanOn Aksyon Teleradyo.
Joven recalled that the farmers before were demotivated and called for a reform in agriculture as the city’s agri-ecosystem was trader-dominated, which resulted in low vegetable production in the place, stating, “Almost half of the land area in the city is conducive to farming; however, we were 18 percent self-sufficient on local vegetable production. “
“Out of 100 kilograms of vegetables that we ate, only 18 kilos came from local production; the rest of the 72 kilos were sourced out from outside locations, such as Northern Mindanao, Davao, and other areas,” he explained.
Farmers in the city opted to plant rice instead of vegetables because vendors are buying the products at very low prices that could not cover the operating expenses of the farmers. Vendors, on the other hand, claimed that the city did not have a stable local market for those who would buy the vegetables. That's why vendors needed to buy them at a cheap price because they still needed to look for buyers outside of the city that required additional travel costs and others.
“AgriBoost program served as a beacon of hope to address the dilemma of the farmers,” Joven said.
AgriBoost, the city’s banner program on agriculture, is an agri-ecosystem innovation that bolsters local farmers’ competitiveness and catalyzes market forces for a sustainable, food-secure and vibrant community.
With the said program, farmers are transformed to be contract growers who are now demand driven, as they passionately participate in the four components of the program namely:
1. AgriBloom allows farmers to enroll in a capacity training
program at the farmers’ field school to learn new and resilient farming
technologies and equipment. The CAVD, on the other hand, assesses the
implementation of the agricultural theories through its weekly visits to the
farmlands of the participating farmers, including support for smart technology
and agricultural inputs against climate change.
2. AgriMart capacitates the farmers and market channels,
comprising of market vendors, restaurants, supermarkets, and stores, with
entrepreneurial mind-setting, financial literacy, and proper product handling
for food safety, among others.
3. AgriHub is the brain of the project that orchestrates the
supply and demand for vegetables for the farmers and vendors. It provides
feasible planting time, what to plant and its quantity, socialized wholesale
price and delivery schedule, contract of agreement between the farmer and
market channels, among others, that are made available through the AgriMart
mobile application.
4. AgriBoost Comms engages the community to help in the increase
of vegetable demand in households and to embrace and alleviate the nutrition
level of the city against malnutrition and consumption of food with
inferior nutritional value.AgriBoost Comms engages the community to help
in the increase of vegetable demand in households and to embrace and alleviate
the nutrition level of the city against malnutrition and consumption of
food with inferior nutritional value.
Its dry run implementation started in 2023 and was participated in by 35
farmers and 24 market channels as pilot respondents to engage in vegetable
production and trade, and they are now reaping the results of their hard
work.
“In a controlled implementation and environment, our first delivery
happened in March 2023 with 1,000 kilos of vegetables only. By December 2023,
we ended the year with a delivery of 9,400 kilos of vegetables weekly from our
local farmers,” he shared.
“What is more inspiring is to see our farmers now earning more, this
time, with income increasing from eight to 20 percent weekly. Previously, our
farmers would only earn P12,000, but with AgriBoost, our farmers are now
earning a minimum of P25,000 weekly,” Joven said.
“We have a farmer in Barangay Anticala who expanded his vegetable
plantation from 1⁄4 hectare to 2 hectares as his income allowed him to buy
additional land,” he relayed.
“With positive performance and results, the AgriBoost community has also
expanded the participants in the program. Today, AgriBoost has 50 vegetable
farmers and 30 market channels. For 2024, we will continue with the dry-run
implementation with incremental expansion. Hopefully, by next year, we will do
the full program implementation, so no farmer will be left behind,” he added.
Joven further disclosed that the local government of Butuan City
continues to sustain the success of vegetable production, trade, and
linkage among the farmers and market channels, as they have considered
expanding the program to include highland vegetables like carrots,
cabbage, peas, and onions.
Under the
leadership of Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada, AgriBoost started as Butuan City’s
winning entry to the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2021 Global Mayors Challenge,
which bested over 600 applicants from around the world, including the more than
100 cities and municipalities that submitted their applications from the
Philippines.
Butuan is the first Philippine city to be awarded the grand prize of $1 million to realize its breakthrough idea on agri-business and ecosystem, in addition to the three-year technical support and coaching to implement and share this idea with other cities around the globe. (RLE/PIA-Caraga with a report from Butuan City PIO)
