In keeping with IISLA Ventures’ mission to be a conduit for rural prosperity, it continues to host a monthly session of knowledge-based webinars and on-the-ground events called IISLA Forum.
Last October 06, 2020, the platform hosted two same-day, back-to-back events called Inclusive Innovations and Agripreneurship Beyond Farming.
The second event, Agripreneurship Beyond Farming, was streamed live on Facebook where interested spectators could tune in for free. The event was held in Zoom with over 45 participants.
The program was as follows:
Enzo Pinga, Enterprise Solution Manager of MyKuya, opened the program with a soft poll through menti.com. Participants were encouraged to answer the poll throughout the program.
Pinga shared the objective of the forum. “The global health crisis brought by Covid-19 has shown us just how vulnerable our food ecosystem really is,” says Pinga. “But even prior to the pandemic, our food value chain no longer supported demand of a growing population and the present issues brought about by resource mismanagement, pollution and a fragmented local value chain. So how then can we secure the future of food?”
Pinga proceeds to share a video by the United Nations, and calls on Founder and CEO of IISLA Ventures Jennifer Viloria.
Viloria presents her life story and how IISLA was formed. She then discussed the IISLA Sustainable Food System Framework where she raised key points about the Philippine food system. The Philippines, Viloria says, should have healthy, nutritious, and fresh food at affordable prices because it’s a land blessed with natural resources and rich biodiversity. However, the country’s food system is so beset with socio-economic, political, environmental and structural constraints; and is food insecure. Following the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic to the global food chain and export markets, the focus is now shifting towards sustainable food production for domestic consumption.
She then passes on the discussion to IISLA Ventures’ COO Mel Yan to answer these pivotal questions: Is the Philippines on the road to food self-sufficiency? And what would it take for the country to be food secure?
Yan anchors his talk on IISLA’s research paper entitled “Food Sovereignty and Rice Self-Sufficiency: Food System Alternatives for the Philippines,”. The research focuses on how the inequalities faced by food producers in the Philippines can finally be addressed to battle food insecurity. (Request for a copy here.)
Yan passes the discussion back to Viloria to set recommendations for systemic changes in food production and innovation. (Watch the whole event here for Viloria’s recommendations.)
The floor was then given to three ecosystem reactors: Manuel Onalan, Vincent Roy Mendoza, and JT Solis.
As a farmtrepreneur and activist, Onalan expresses the hardship in trading produce from Kalinga Province to Manila. It is unprofitable for many farmers who are losing money to global corporations. He cites deep-rooted problems in the Philippines, among which is the “pandesal culture.” He continues on by stating that about 40% of the Filipino population are no longer dependent on rice because of pandesal, bread that uses wheat-based flour that is imported and not locally produced. He hopes IISLA can direct investments to farmers for training and education alongside mobility provisions of other players.
Farmvocacy’s CEO, Vincent Roy Mendoza, agrees with IISLA’s stance about food waste, especially on vegetables. He sees the provision of drying facilities for rice farmers as a solution to lessening the wastage. He ends with a call to action to regenerate the soil in order to leave it in good condition for the next generation.
Founder of MAYANI, JT Solis, confirms the lack of inclusion in the Philippine food system. It is pervading not only in technology but also in the ideas that Filipinos want to spur. He reacts to the problem of yield gap and food waste, stating that the public sector should mobilise and facilitate players like MAYANI as de facto trade posts for farmers. Solis also advocates for the shortening of the value chain especially as the pandemic, which led to the undersupply of food in urban areas and the oversupply in rural areas, has shown that short value chains facilitate less wastage.
The event ended with the moderator guiding the participants for a group photo.