To help rice tillers become entrepreneurs, PhilRice development workers were recently updated on agripreneurship. 
Training facilitator Dr. Rene Resurreccion, a licensed trainer of the Competency-based Economies through Formation of Enterprise approach, said that “economic development for all” can be achieved by producing more local entrepreneurs.
“Without entrepreneurs, there can be no development,” Resurreccion said.
Resurreccion developed the Entrefarm Game,designed to teach basic entrepreneurship to farmers. It includes modules on basic entrepreneurial farming, negotiation and building cooperatives, processing, and exporting farm products.
The participants learned about the application of business cycle to farming and simulated a farm business operation. During the simulation, they learned about proper record-keeping, fund allocation, and cash flow.
The training also focused on strategic planning, negotiation, and the importance of forming a farmers’ cooperative. Processing products into finished goods as an option aside from regular farming was also explored. It enabled the participants to run a livestock production business and explore the possibility of exporting products.
Topics on business mapping, maximizing resources, and marketing were also elaborated as important technical management skills needed in establishing an enterprise.
Meanwhile, investment in research, strategic planning, and wise financial management were highlighted as essential factors in building enterprises for farmers.
Resurreccion is the founder and the director of Passion for Perfection Inc., a company that develops achievement-oriented business and development games and training programs.
The training was organized by Project IPaD or Improving Technology Promotion and Delivery through Capability Enhancement of Next-Gen Rice Extension Professionals and Other Intermediaries and PhilRice’s Rural Transformation Movement.
