Agriculture Business Week

Livelihood programs should not be an end but a step to start a micro-business activity.

0ver the years, many livelihood programs have been launched to improve the income of farmers in the countryside, either by the national government through its many agencies, and from the local government units (LGUs). And periodic level of success has been achieved.

Crafting the many livelihood programs is now lumped into a national battle cry to alleviate the poverty incidence specially in the so-called poor provinces. However, lost in this plethora of programs is an effective mechanism of moving up (graduating) from livelihood into a micro-business set up.

Crossing the line from livelihood activities to micro is an option taken by those who have developed the skill and vision of what they want to be. Easily said, but many livelihood practitioners are not able to swing to the other side, and move on to progression to the next level, not because of their own choice, but by the limitation of what they can do.

Livelihood programs should not be an end but a step to start a micro-business activity.
It is along this line that an assessment and identification of what is locally available (or the natural advantage of a locality) must be taken seriously, into consideration when working livelihood programs.

And this is very well spoken in the concept of the clustering production activities where there is a natural advantage in the pursuit of agribusiness ventures. The precept should be to exploit and preserved the inherent strength of a locality through proper interventions.

The “one-town, one-product” is a project worth mentioning in our quest for developing countryside entrepreneurs. Fully understanding and being able to grasp the business implication of such is definitely a plus factor for whoever would like to seriously pursue countryside agribusiness development.

But then again, I had seen literal interpretation of this program among involved government bureaucrats that they insist on developing and focusing on ONE product alone and would fight tooth and nail if local LGUs would develop a plus-one approach.

On the other side, many local executives are not in the flow of things that they simply would like to pursue business directions along the same old lines- that their own places have been famous and known for.

I have no quarrel with this except that market dynamics had brought changes in terms of production cost, dwindling raw material availability, newer technologies, and the like, that some areas had lost their business competitiveness.

I remember talking with a town mayor of a town in Bulacan known for its organic vinegar to pursue action to assume proprietary rights over the use of their town name for organic vinegar, similar to those wine producing areas in France. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry producing vinegar can claim that their product is akin to the quality of the famous vinegar from the town.

Efforts should be focused to help livelihood practitioners to move to the next level of micro-entrepreneurship.

Meaning, they must have affordable and competitive access to what makes them successful. The Pangasinan “bucayo and tupig” products had matured in its state without any visible change from what the product was 30 years ago. It is still the same thing, and will remain in its form unless somebody can afford to do a serious research on further product development. The marketing of pili nut from Bicol is of the same mold.

Many of those in the livelihood state would like to graduate to the next level but are not able to do so, and they need assistance in hurdling business impediments. Accessing technology and raw material inputs are, at many times, not affordable with their operating capital. A trip to buy the correct packaging material is a cash expense that many will forego and will just make do with what is available.

This then should be an area where government resources should be applied.

As in the case of the one-town, one product program, the involved bureaucrats should come down and explore and help in establishing business centers to reduce cost of production as in accessing competitive raw material inputs and packaging materials, or the use of common tolling facility, to help move business activities into the next level.

Truly, many things should be done, but knowing our priorities can spell the difference of staying at livelihood level or moving up to agribusiness micro-entrepreneurship. Assistance should be there to help in crossing the line and in moving up.