Underscoring the power of unity and collaboration, the 1st F2C2 Regional Summit brought together farmers and fisherfolks from across the region to foster stronger connections and encourage partnerships with institutional buyers. With the theme, “Building Bridges: Strengthening Farm and Fisheries Networks”, this initiative seeks to establish a better market linkage and encourage big brother and small brother relationships among agricultural stakeholders.

“If we unite as one, we have greater strength, increased opportunities, and stronger market linkages” Dir. Florentino Adame, OIC-RTD for Research and Regulations stressed this in his message, highlighting the main objective of strengthening the agricultural sector through solid bonds between different associations and cooperatives.

On the other hand, Director Shandy Hubilla, F2C2 Program Director, through his representative, reported on the remarkable progress of the F2C2 program since its estabalishment in 2020. The program has identified 82 regional farm clusters in the region, with 54 of them already validated. These clusters collectively represent 21,452 farmers managing over 16,000 hectares of land.

“𝘐𝘯𝘢𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘨 𝘍2𝘊2, 𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘪 𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘺𝘢𝘬 𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰” (We believe that through F2C2, we can achieve our goal of increasing the income and productivity of our farmers and fisherfolks, and ensure that every Filipino family has an adequate supply of food on their tables) said Dir. Hubilla, emphasizing the potential of this initiative to transform the agricultural sector.

Throughout the summit, farmers had the opportunity to showcase both fresh and processed products. This served as a platform for potential collaborations and partnerships between Farmers’ Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) and institutional buyers, contributing to a more interconnected and efficient agri-fishery value chain.

One of the highlights of the event was the sharing of product demands of institutional buyers and presentations of demand clusters by various government agencies.

This activity provided an opportunity for farmers and fisherfolk to widen their horizons and strengthen their connections within the agricultural community.

The summit, held at the Monarch Hotel in Calasiao, Pangasinan commenced on Wednesday and concluded successfully today.