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.
“๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐2๐2, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช ๐ข๐ต ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ข ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฌ๐ข ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ด๐ฅ๐ข ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐บ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ” (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 Farmersโ 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.
