PLDT Inc. said its digital programs have allowed a thousand farmers to sell P4-million worth of rice directly to the company’s employees.
The company said the initiative to enable Filipino farmers to harness business opportunities through digital platforms has benefitted about 2,500 individuals.
Of this total, about 1,000 are rice farmers who now have access to mobile applications that connect them with “capital funding and diverse platforms where they can sell their crops at fair market prices.”
“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Filipino farmers were barely earning enough to support their family. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that 3 in 10 farmers are poor,” said Stephanie Orlino, Smart Assistant Vice President and Head for Community Relations.
“To help alleviate this, Smart has teamed up with different organizations to bank on our expertise in technology to enable smallholder farmers.”
PLDT said its wireless unit Smart partnered with an online social enterprise for its “Buy Local” program, which connect farmers with direct buyers.
“The project enables PLDT and Smart employees and their families to buy farm products directly from adopted farming communities through the Cropital e-commerce platform,” it said.
“Part of the proceeds goes to a sustainability fund that is used to extend low-interest loans to farmers as capital for the next planting cycle.”
PLDT said the program has raised almost P4 million in revenues from the sale of 56 metric tons of rice with its sustainability fund growing to P200,000, which farmers can tap for capital support.
“To expand the program’s reach, Smart encourages companies and organizations to source their rice and vegetable donations for community pantries and families affected by the pandemic and disasters through the Buy Local platform,” it said.
“The Buy Local Farm-to-Pantry initiative has generated more than P200,000 in sales for vegetable growers in Aurora, Bulacan, and Isabela who were saddled with oversupply.”
Smart also partnered with the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) to improve farmers’ access to information to enable them to “make better decisions, improve efficiencies, adapt digital technology and tap market opportunities” via the Digital Farmers Program or DFP.
“The DFP is a ladderized capacity-building track spread over a three-course sequence focusing on empowering farmers through basic digital tools such as smartphone use, social media, agriculture applications and more complex services like e-commerce,” the company said.
“With an ageing population of farmers who may not be familiar with digital innovations, Smart and ATI are tapping the tech-savvy youth to help farmers embrace the digital shift to boost their livelihood. At the same time, this method helps encourage the Filipino youth to venture into agriculture.”
PLDT said the DFP 101 course has conducted 67 trainings that were participated in by more than 1,500 individuals since its launch in 2019.