(Press release published in Manila Standard; The Philippine Star; MANILA BULLETIN; MSN News;Tribune)
The Philippine’s Department of Agriculture lays the foundation to digitize its agri-fishery sector! Through KAMMMPI, a major Philippine NGO, Tiaxa offers its newest AI platform WeSqore to boost modernization and industrialization of farms, improving the lives of more than 15 million Filipino smallholder farmers.
As part of its thrust to modernize the country’s agri-fishery sector, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is laying the groundwork to digitize its operations. “We need to have good data management and a very robust M&E system to attain reliable and credible agri-fishery information down to the ground level. We will also have a data analytics group as we invest in data science and go digital in the agriculture sector,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
In line with this thrust, Tiaxa has signed an agreement with KAMMMPI, a confederation of Philippine farmers, promoting GETSMARTFARMS with the Department of Agriculture. KAMMMPI will use WeSqore as its platform for millions of farmers participating in the DA Farm Consolidation program; one of DA’s eight (8) paradigms to advance the Philippine agriculture sector.
“We are thrilled to be supporting millions of Filipino farmers, providing them access to valuable data and digital content, as well as helping each individual build a digital footprint with a record of their abilities and hard work to facilitate their access to financial services. Our partnership with the Department of Agriculture and KAMMMPI brings together the multiple skill sets required to be successful at scale. Particularly facing the challenges of COVID, we take pride and responsibility in contributing to the advancement of the small entrepreneur through this exciting digital inclusion initiative,” said Tiaxa’s CEO & Founder Felipe Valdes.
WeSqore provides a real-time business intelligence platform that improves the delivery of quality agri-services and extension systems. This is accomplished by providing information and services at the right time, facilitating the adoption of new agronomic practices, resulting in yield improvements and higher income for farming households. Through WeSqore, more than 15 million farmers will gain access to market opportunities and financial assistance from the DA and the private sectors, worldwide.
“KAMMMPI will use WeSqore to assist the DA in selecting and validating the farmers enrolment in DA’s Farm Consolidation programs and services and implement the GETSMARTFARMS methodology to help the farmers become millionaires!” said KAMMMPI’s National Chairman Sonny Domingo.
The Philippine smallholder farmer regularly faces difficulties accessing DA services, which include financing from financial institutions, due to a lack of meaningful data requested during their application process. WeSqore will help improve their access and increase potential use cases by helping the DA harmonize its Registry Service of Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA). WeSqore will serve as themediation platform, featuring credit scoring, business profiling and decisioning tools. This approach will eventually lead to a wider selection of interactive information and transactional services. Using the WeSqore data farmers will also have better access to the allocation of government budgets for crop assistance.
“With the WeSqore platform, the optimum volume of fertilizer for each crop or soil type per project site will be established to save on cost. It will then be used as a tool for irrigation management and pest control that can predict the yields with the projected climate condition during the cropping season to enable the Farmer Corporations under GETSMARTFARMS to participate in Commodity Futures for rice, corn and bean products,” Domingo added.
As part of the service commitment, Tiaxa will help in producing periodic reports based on data collected and analyzed while KAMMMPI will create news articles on the status of Philippine agriculture for public use.
Through WeSqore platform, the DA will ensure that the farmers have received, and used, the services and support inputs the agency will provide. This will enable more efficient planning and decision-making for DA officials.
“The young farmers will be trained to do digital farming with WeSqore and usher in a new generation of farmers in the Philippines that will fully industrialize the primary livelihood in the countryside,” Domingo concluded.