Tungawan Municipal Mayor Angelito Aniรฑon leads the ribbon cutting of the Farm Business School launching. (Photo Courtesy of PIA-Zamboanga Sibugay)
TUNGAWAN, Zamboanga Sibugay โ A farm business school has been launched in Tungawan town through a partnership among the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the local government unit, and the Tungawan Coconut and Oil Palm Planters Marketing Cooperative (TUCOPPMACO). It aims to help farmers shift from subsistence to enterprise-based agriculture.
The initiative, sealed through a memorandum of agreement, seeks to equip farmers with practical knowledge in agribusiness management while strengthening cooperative development and promoting sustainable farming practices.
A farm business school (FBS) is a participatory learning approach that treats farming as a business rather than just a livelihood. Farmers undergo a series of structured sessions covering cost and return analysis, market planning, record-keeping, value-adding, and collective enterprise development. The goal is to help them make data-driven decisions, improve productivity, and increase incomes by linking production to markets.
In Tungawan, the program serves as a structured platform to build farmersโ entrepreneurial skills, with sessions designed to be interactive and grounded in real farm conditions.
Antonino Roa, chairperson of TUCOPPMACO, welcomed the initiative, saying it opens opportunities for farmers to improve both knowledge and livelihoods.
โWe are thankful for this opportunity for our farmers to learn, grow, and improve our livelihoods,โ Roa said.
Around 30 cooperative members joined the launch, which included discussions and practical exercises on managing farm enterprises more efficiently.
Mayor Angelito Aniรฑon underscored the role of agriculture as a key driver of Tungawanโs local economy and a pathway to uplift farming communities. Agriculture is one of the key priority areas of his administration.
DAR Zamboanga Sibugay said it will continue rolling out capacity-building programs to strengthen the agricultural sector and support sustainable rural development.
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