Cherrie Atilano is the Founding Farmer, President and CEO of AGREA International, an agro-social enterprise that aims to help eradicate poverty for farming and fishing families in the Philippines. She is also a member of the Scaling Up Nutrition Lead Group and GAIN Board member. She provides us some ground-truthing of COVID-19 impacts in the Philippines in relation to jobs and livelihoods, and food security and nutrition.   Read More...

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The head of the Department of Agriculture’s training arm in MIMAROPA Region (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) is encouraging farmers to help in the government’s thrust to teach more people to become farmers themselves by setting up learning sites and farm schools. Pat Andrew Barrientos, Center Director of the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) in the region said there is a huge need of farming institutions nationwide even as the government is allocating over P70...  Read More...

PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN. Agriculture learning sites in the MIMAROPA Region (Region 4B: Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) have banded together to further boost cooperation and exchange ideas in an effort to strengthen the Philippine government’s partners in promoting agriculture.The regional event also saw the election of a new set of officials who will steer the organization in the interim.The formation of an organization of farm schools and learning sites in the region was among the...  Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. Less fortunate individuals in Marinduque Philippines can now avail of free technical-vocational training in Agricultural Crops Production NCII plus a myriad of benefits by enrolling at the AGREA Farm School through TESDA’s Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (UAQTEA) program.Signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017, UAQTEA grants free tuition to students of all state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the country. The same law applies to high s...  Read More...

Are you doing something to be a good ancestor? We owe our present to the future generation. Good legacy, this ideally what we all wish to leave behind. AGREA’s one way of being a good ancestor, and leaving a good legacy is through The Garden Classroom program. The Garden Classroom (TGC) program is a signature program of AGREA that flourished and was first implemented in Marinduque.   Read More...

No need to reinvent the wheel. For agripreneurs who wish to participate in the food heritage market, Javara Indigenous Indonesia founder and CEO Helianti Hilman, publicly recognized as the forefront promoter in sustaining Indonesia’s food biodiversity heritage, interviewed during LEAF 2018, has the following tips:  1. Train farmers to be food entrepreneurs and artisans Rediscover food biodiversity and heritage by working with the farmers and indigenous communities who have the knowledg...  Read More...

BOAC, MARINDUQUE. AGREA Farm School and Assessment Center now offers short-term scholarships in two organic agriculture competencies: Producing Organic Fertilizers and Raising Organic Small Ruminants under the Special Training for Employment Program (or STEP) of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).This new offering at the AGREA Farm School for October to November 2019 intake is made possible by the TESDA Provincial Office in Marinduque and the Office of Marinduque Re...  Read More...