Agri-microentrepreneurship pushed for job generation

MANILA, Philippines — Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion is reiterating the importance of helping micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as it will address problems in food security and lead to the creation of more jobs in the Philippines.

Concepcion met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday to address job generation in the country.

He proposed the scaling-up of MSMEs, prioritizing the upskilling of workers, and ensuring that the Philippines is prepared to receive local and international investments. 

During the meeting, Concepcion noted how MSMEs provide more than 62% percent to jobs in the Philippines.

He particularly cited Lionheart Farms as an example of a large company successfully helping smaller farmers. The Palawan-based company specializes in organic farming and strives to do all its business locally.

Other large companies have also realized the benefit of including in their value chain the small companies that support their operations. These are: Universal Leaf Phils., Bounty Fresh Food, Nestlé and SL Agritech.

The Go Negosyo founder said he plans to focus on agri-microentrepreneurs the Kapatid Angat Lahat (KAL) program, which was first initiated in 2016 as a way to encourage medium and large corporations to help micro and small enterprises by including them in their value chain.

“Kapatid Angat Lahat will give access to the farmers a business model that will have mentoring, and access to money and markets,” Concepcion said.

“This is being done now; we need only to scale it up,” he added.

Concepcion also emphasized the importance of the local government. “With the right leadership at the local level, the chances for success are higher. They will also help us pinpoint which LGUs are ready for this,” said Concepcion.