A total of 83 Business Model Canvases (BMCs) from the 106 young hopeful farmers across the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) are vying to win the 2022 Young Farmers Challenge (YFC): Provincial Level.
Out of the 83 BMCs submitted, the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Cordillera is looking into 80 provincial awardees to compete at the regional level. Each of the 45 Provincial Awardees under the Individual Category will receive a P50,000.00 cash grant while each of the 35 awardees under the Group Category will receive a P100,000.00 cash grant.
The financial grant will be used as a start-up or additional capital for their business venture.
There were four BMCs (3 individuals and 1 group) from the province of Abra, nine BMCs (8 individuals and 1 group) from Apayao, eight BMCs (4 individuals and 4 groups) from Baguio City, 14 BMCs (13 individuals and 1 group) from Benguet, 12 BMCs (10 individuals and 2 groups) from Ifugao, 20 BMCs (16 individuals and 4 groups) from Kalinga, and 16 BMCs (14 individuals and 2 groups) from Mt. Province.
Presentation and judging of BMCs had already started last week, July 12-13, in the province of Abra and Apayao respectively. Provincial competition is ongoing this week for Mountain Province, Benguet, and Baguio City while Ifugao and Kalinga are scheduled next week.
The BMCs are being evaluated in five (5) main criteria: entrepreneurial attribute, innovativeness, revenue stream, value addition, and social responsibility. Cultivation and improvement of agricultural land, affiliation to the marginalized sector as well as experience in agri-fishery-related activities are also being taken into consideration.
The results of the provincial competitions are expected to be officially announced on July 29, 2022.
The Young Farmers Challenge seeks to encourage the youth to engage in agriculture and agri-fishery enterprises through a competitive grant assistance program. This was first launched last year through the DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD).
The contest is open to all youth ages 18-30 years old with proposed agri-business ventures which are innovative and with viability potential.
Mr. Ryan U. Palunan, Chairperson of the Regional Agricultural and Fishery Council (RAFC)-CAR and one of the 2021 YFC Provincial Awardees congratulated and challenged the participants of the competition to continue showing interest in the field of agriculture not only during the competition but also after to encourage more youth in agriculture.
“We value passing the torch to the next generation. Ano ba ang ginagawa natin ngayon na pwedeng gawin ng next generation? If what we’re doing right now is good, they will also be inspired to do more in the future,” he said.
