The Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program in Bicol recently completed its series of Marketing Assistance and Enterprise Development (MAED) training for 24 DA-SAAD-assisted farmer associations in Masbate.
The training sessions were part of the program’s yearly initiative to capacitate beneficiaries with the business and marketing skills needed to sustain their enterprises and transition from production-based farming to market-driven, income-generating operations.
The training ran from August to September in 24 batches, with instructors from Dr. Emilio B. Espinosa Sr. Memorial State College of Agriculture and Technology (DEBESMSCAT) serving as resource persons. The sessions focused on three areas useful in running farm enterprises: Record and Information Management, Customer Relation Management (CRM), and Business Branding.
Resource speakers walked the participants through the importance of maintaining organized business records while developing a distinct identity for their products. The discussions were complemented by practical exercises designed to help FAs apply practical concepts to their own production, particularly in documenting transactions, tracking customers, and presenting their products in ways that can be recognized in the market.
Teresa Aguilar, one of the resource persons from DEBESMSCAT, highlighted the importance of keeping a proper record in managing their association and enterprise.
“An iyo record an utak san iyo negosyo. Diba kita kun minsan nakalimot kita, pero kun igwa kita san record, madali ta balikan kun nano an mga naging sales tag expenses san aton grupo. Halimbawa may nag-utang sa aton produkto, kun wara kita san record, pwede kita sani mapa ambotan, lugi na dayon.” said Ms. Teresa.
(Recording is like the brain of our business. Sometimes we forget things, but with records, it’s easy to go back and check our group’s sales and expenses. For example, if someone borrows a product from us and we don’t record it, we might forget about it and end up losing money. That’s why keeping a proper record is important.)
The farmers were introduced to useful tools for organizing customer information, allowing them to keep track of their regular customers and better understand their target market. This was paired with activities on developing a clear product identity, where participants created their own logos and other branding concepts fully based on their own farming products.
By applying these concepts, they understood the significance of having a unique identity that can help them present their products more effectively.
Aside from the lessons, members also shared their experiences, including some of the challenges they face in managing their group and intervention given to them.
“Dahil sa training, alam na namin kung paano dapat makipag-usap sa customer, tips kung paano maubos agad ang aming binibenta, at kailangan merong record book na nakadetalye ang income at expenses para di ito makalimutan,” said Pag-asa Farmers Association president Marivic Balagon.
(We learned how to talk to our customers better and how to sell our products through the training. We also realized that keeping a record of our income and expenses is really important. That way, we don’t forget anything, and we can see the progress of our business.)
With the conclusion of the MAED activities, farmers will be able to fully apply their developed skills as they continue to manage their production. Moving forward, the SAAD Program will conduct the distribution of remaining interventions under the Food Production and Livelihood component to complement the training they have undergone. ###
Source: Rose-Ann R. Trabado, Community Development Officer II
