Are we in the Digital Age or not? Towards the end of last month, Roi Anthoni Lomotan tells us that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie discussed the Department of Agriculture, DA’s program to attract the youth to engage themselves in the business of farming. Indeed, the DA has 3 programs for them: Agribusiness Incubation; Kapital Access for Young Agripreneurs, KAYA; and the AgrinegosyoLoan Program – setting aside P2.5 Billion meant to be cash grants.
Now, the news Mr Lomotan reported happened last month yet, during a forum held at the Negros Oriental Convention Center on 28 January 2020 (PIA[1]); his report is dated 11 February 2020, or 2 weeks late! In these digital times, I can only explain this news delay as lack of interest. Kaya; kaya lang, hindi kinaya. Has the ability, but sorry, did not bother.
From his Facebook page, I learn that Mr Lomotan is a young man. The above tells me that the youth have notsensed by themselves the Opportunitiesin Agriculture and only seen the Obstacles, and so I am not surprised that they have not ventured into agribusiness of one kind or another.
Yes, Mr Lomotan says:
The country’s agriculture chief explained that the department is trying to imitate (Silicon) Valley’s way of nurturing innovative individuals by providing a cash grant (each) amounting to P500,000 to individuals who can present ideas or proposals that can boost the advancement of (the) agribusiness industry under its agribusiness incubation program.
We learn that thatP500,000 is a grant; it is free. KAYA and Agrinegosyo are 2 credit programs with zero interest rates and payable in 5 years. Under KAYA, anyone 18 to 30 years old can apply for as much as P500,000 to start an agribusiness. Aside from the loan, s/he will receive “mentoring support from schools, universities, or successful agripreneurs.” Under Agrinegosyo, s/he can borrow between P300,000 and P15 million! These loan programs are implemented by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, an agency of the DA, as well as other partner lending institutions.
Now, Mr Lomotan says:
A report from DA’s website said that individuals who want to apply for KAYA must submit an extensive business proposal for review and assessment from the department.
On the surface, I note: “extensive business proposal.” HINDI KAYA! Not able. This senior citizen, at 79, himself sees the above as an Obstacle: Why because a young wo/man cannot be reasonably expected to prepare an “extensive business proposal.”
Ah, but Mr Lomotan says, “(The youth) will also receive mentoring support from schools, universities, or successful entrepreneurs.” So, I suppose the mentoring starts immediately – when a young fellow has a vague idea of an agribusiness venture, s/he informs a KAYA cooperating school, university or agripreneur, and they discuss and work on it until that business proposal is done.
And so this senior must salute our country’s DA in also attending to the minds and abilities of the Filipino youth in advancing PH agriculture at this juncture in our history as a nation.@517
[1] https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1034359?fbclid=IwAR3Bo3iM8oi105wKTX3vNImEbNtUrNrKu-nNxllvoB5MbF-XhvGYFtXMJ0E
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