BUTUAN CITY – A total of 136 aspiring young agripreneurs from all over Caraga region vie for the limited slots in the Young Farmers Challenge Fund (YFCF): Kabataang Agribiz.
The Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) program secretariat of the Department of Agriculture (DA) – Caraga region has already completed the screening of the eligibility of applicants and their 115 Business Model Canvas (BMC) based on the criteria set for the program.
During the coordination meeting with the regional and provincial panel of judges last July 1 and July 15 respectively, Program Coordinator Rey Frias mentioned the evaluation process and emphasized that the judges will also serve as mentors of the applicants. He added that there will be one set of judges in the regional and one for the provincial level comprising of representatives from the DA and partner agencies namely the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, academe, and the private sectors.
As co-implementer of the program, ATI-RTC 13 Center Director Samuel L. Calonzo pledged support to this endeavor in encouraging the youth to engage in agriculture and agri-fishery enterprises. He also hoped that we can be able to submit an entry to the national level.
The YFCF is a competitive financial grant assistance for the youth who will engage in agri-fishery based enterprises with profitable potentials that aims to provide the youth access to resources and opportunities. It shall serve as start-up capital for the planned innovative agri-based micro-enterprise.
The competition will be in three stages. The first stage is the selection of the BMCs at the provincial level to receive PhP 50,000 per individual. From among them will be selected the top three provincial awardees that will be nominated to compete at the regional level. The second stage is the regional level competition wherein three winners will be awarded an additional financial grant amounting to PhP150,000.00 per enterprise. Winners at this stage will then qualify to compete at the National Level. There will be six winners to be declared as Outstanding Youth Agri-Business Models from among the national qualifiers who will receive additional PhP300,000.00 per enterprise.
The virtual BMC presentation or pitching is scheduled on August 3 – 6, 2021 from 1:00 – 5:00 in the afternoon for the selection best BMCs in provincial level based on the following criteria: Entrepreneurial attitude, innovativeness of the business proposal, revenue stream, and value addition.
In total, 85 individuals will be declared as winners in the provincial level who will receive PhP50,000.00 financial grant per youth awardee.