Agusan Sur coffee farmers learn business strategies through ‘EntreFarm game’
By Jennifer Gaitano
BUTUAN
CITY (PIA) – The coffee-producing farmers in Agusan del Sur are now engaged in
a more fun and learning experience while taking steps to enhance their
livelihood and expand their businesses through the “Entrefarm Game.”
This
initiative is facilitated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in
Agusan del Sur through the Rural Agro-Enterprise Partnership for Inclusive
Development and Growth (RAPID Growth) Project.
The
“Entrefarm Game,” as a series of entrepreneurial development trainings, goes
beyond the usual way of provid aing learning sessions to the farmer
beneficiaries.
 |
The
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Agusan del Sur Provincial Office,
through the Rural Agro-Enterprise Partnership for Inclusive Development and
Growth (RAPID Growth) Project, intensified the series of entrepreneurial
development trainings using the Entrefarm Game for farmer beneficiaries in the
province. Photo courtesy of DTI-Agusan del Sur. |
According
to Provincial Director Marson Dolendo of DTI-Agusan del Sur, the goal was to
enhance the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills of the coffee farmers in the
province.
“Participants
in these capacity-building activities include the 34 members of the San Jose
Maasin Coffee Farmers Association (SMACOFA) and 28 members of the Hillstribe
Economic Development Farmers Association (HEDFA),” he said.
Dolendo
added that the DTI supports the welfare of the farmers; hence, various activities
and trainings are being initiated to benefit the sector in the province, making
them more productive and competitive.
“EntreFarm
focuses on the agriculture industry. Participants in this fun game are divided
into 'families' with equal amounts of cash and resources. They will go through
the basic production cycle: negotiation with middlemen, formation of a
cooperative, manufacturing and value-adding, and exportation. The lessons to be
extracted from this game are endless, as different participants will have
different strategies and decisions. Everything they do in the game will affect
the outcome and lessons of the game,” explained Dolendo.
The
training took place in two different areas, namely, Barangay San Juan Bayugan
City and Sitio San Jose in Barangay Maasin, Esperanza.
Elsie
Sag-od, a coffee farmer from Barangay. San Juan, Bayugan City, expressed
elation at the relevance of the training to their own livelihood.
“Gana
kaayo sha sir, kay mura jud mi ug tinuod na nag-uma, maka-ideya pud mi ug
unsaon pag-baligya sa among harvest,” she remarked at the end of the event.
(It’s
really fun because you’re like farming in real life; you’ll also get ideas on
how to market your yields.)
Charles
Palen, the facilitator, went on to discuss that the EntreFarm Game is the
better form of training.
"Training
using the Entrefarm Game is more engaging, more fun, and more practical,"
Palen emphasized during the lecture.
“In
contrast to the traditional training wherein participants would passively
listen for hours, Entrefarm participants could strategize, plan, and prepare
for crop production—skills that would be useful in their future farming
endeavors,” he added.
Through
the engaging and interactive two-day training utilizing the EntreFarm Game,
coffee farmers from Agusan del Sur experienced what it's like to run their
farms. The teams competed by planting, harvesting, and selling simulated crops
to earn in-game money, and then the victorious team was chosen based onthe
amount of final assets they hadearned based on their decisions and preferences
in each stage.
The DTI
is optimistic that this unique approach will foster an entrepreneurial mindset
among the coffee farmers in Agusan del Sur.
The RAPID Growth Project’s development goal is to increase the income level of small farmers and unemployed rural women and men across selected agri-based value chains. This can be done by executing collaborative action plans and building commercial partnerships that will sustain the growth of agri-based MSMEs due to the strong backward linkages to farmers. With enabling conditions put in place for businesses to grow, the project hopes to achieve inclusive and sustainable rural economic development. (JPG, PIA-Agusan del Sur with a report from DTI-Agusan del Sur)
