Out of the 66 Business Model Canvas (BMC) submitted by 105 young farmers in Davao Region, 46 made it to the first stage of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Young Farmers Challenge: Kabataang Agribiz competition and were declared as provincial winners.
The Young Farmers Challenge: Kabataang Agribiz is a competition grant assistance program for the youth. It is open to all interested youth aged 18-30 years old with proposed agri-business ventures which are innovative and with viability potential. The program shall award the winners with cash prizes for start-up capital of their proposed agri-business venture.
Provincial winners will receive P50,000 cash prize and will be given two months to implement their BMC. After the given period, the panel of judges will select and declare three business enterprises as regional winners and will receive an additional cash prize amounting to P150,000. They will automatically qualify for the national level and undergo mentoring from the judges.
Six national winners will be chosen by the national panel of judges as Outstanding Youth Agri-Business Models who will each receive an additional cash prize amounting to P300,000.
This program is part of DA Secretary William Dar’s 18 Key Strategies for a Modern and Industrialized Agriculture Sector focusing on youth empowerment thru intensified support and engagement in the agency’s various programs and projects. (Celso C. Vergara / DA-RFO XI, RAFIS)
