Lapitan, V.C. (2017) SMART link : Pivotal key to farm enterprise development (Unpublished master's thesis).Public Management Development Program, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Public Management Development Program Middle Managers Class Batch 12 Thesis (MMC)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

The global rice crisis of 2008 dealt the Philippines a heavy blow, particularly in the agricultural sector as the poverty incidence became three times higher in agricultural households than that of non-agricultural. Until now, the Philippines has more than two million rice farmers that live in extreme poverty despite the available cutting-edge and highly relevant rice production technologies. Farmers need to become entrepreneurial in order for them to overcome poverty. Directly linking the farmers to the markets is a smart way to help them build their overall capability into a more enterprising, innovative, and competitive manner; thus, leading to a significant increase in profits. However, farmers in general lack marketing knowledge and skills as well as information about highly marketable rice products that hinders them from correctly supplying the needs of the market. PhilRice is mandated to help the country attain rice self-sufficiency by increasing the productivity and profitability of rice farmers in a sustainable and competitive manner. It is within this context that this ReP was conceptualized. SMART Link is the key to ensure the growth and development of the rice-based enterprises. A modified conceptual framework in Agroenterprise Development through Clustering Approach from the Catholic Relief Services (2014) was then adopted. This clustering approach address farmers' needs sustainability from production to processing to marketing by ensuring available and affordable rice and better income. Market preparation was the focus of this ReP with five components that were implemented from October 15, 2016 to January 17, 2017. These include: 1) Partnership building with various agencies, 2) Site selection, farmers' profiling, and cluster formation, 3) Market chain analysis and product/supply assessment, 4) Cluster commitment setting, and 5) Agroenterprise plan and mobilization. The ReP SMART Link was piloted in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro, Region 4B. To further support the activities of these components, the following events were conducted: (a) Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) Signing among partner organizations, (b) Briefing and Orientation with Farmer Leaders, (c) Stakeholder's Meeting and Orientation, (d) Farmers' Orientation and Training on Market Preparation and Enterprise Development, (e) Farmers' Survey, Formal and Informal Interviews, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD), (f) Key Informant Interview (KII) with Key Stakeholders in Oriental Mindoro, and (g) Farmers' Orientation and Training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Water Management. Such events were expected to accomplish eight deliverables: (i) Signed MOA by partner agencies; (ii) Profile of selected sites; (iii) Farmers' profiles; (iv) Farmers clustered based on products for collective marketing; (v) Developed action plan for market activities, marketing projections, and cluster supply plan; (vi) Developed cluster organizational structure, commitments, and agreements; (vii) Completed rice-based enterprise design/plan (consisted of market, supply, management, and financial plans); and (viii) SB Resolution passed and approved by the SB of Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro to fully support the implementation of the ReP. To foster collective actions among stakeholders, the use of the Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance by Emerson et al. (2011) was applied. Under this framework, the interplay of the three components of collaborative dynamics such as principled engagement, shared motivation, and capacity for joint action pushed for collaborative actions among stakeholders that comprise six government agencies, ten farmer associations, two irrigator associations, and one private business enterprise. This ReP established the SMART Link in preparation for the bigger task of developing the rice-based enterprise and achieving the succeeding outcomes that would bring positive impacts not only on the lives of the small farmers but to the whole rice industry of the chosen community: 1) Better market access and greater bargaining power of organized farmers developed, 2) Farmers transformed to agri-entrepreneurs, 3) Increased profitability of rice based farming in a sustainable manner, and 4) Attained food security at the community level. To fully accomplish these, the following stages need to be done after the three-month ReP period: 1) Develop a brochure of rice-based AE design/plan to serve as road map for the cluster farmers in their group marketing activities; 2) Enhance cluster capacity on organic and GAP rice farming; 3) Organize product supply; 4) Mobilize market engagement; 5) Sustain the rice-based enterprise by continuing the AE activities and scale-up the business; and 6) Document all the activities, challenges and actions taken in order to develop a brochure or manual for possible replication of similar undertakings to other sites. In view of the ReP's sustainability, the subsequent strategies were integrated in the long-term plan of the project: 1) Approving and passing of an SB Resolution to fully support the implementation of the ReP SMART Link, 2) Empowering the Local Farmer Technicians and Farmer Leaders to serve as com-managers of the rice-based enterprise, 3) Integration of the SMART Link project to the Rice Hub Program of PhilRice, and 4) Implementation of proper timing for the "phase out" period.