Nestled among lush ricefields and the bamboo forest hills in Jala-Jala, Rizal, a 60-hectare farmland of the FMJ Foundation sits before the shimmering expanse of the Laguna Lake.
Come June this year, some 40 Filipino youth will call this farm both “school” and “home” as they study to become agri-entrepreneurs through the MFI Farm Business Institute’s Farm Business School.
The Farm Business School has been a long-standing dream for Jose Rene C. Gayo, group head and trustee-in-charge of MFI-FBI.
“I have always believed that a program that prepares students for agri-entrepreneurship is very much needed in the country. It is an unfortunate fact that majority of agriculture graduates – including those from the agribusiness program – do not end up in agribusiness. On the other hand, there is also a dire need for well-trained manpower for agribusiness management,” Gayo explains.