The most effective agricultural innovations are often those shared farmer-to-farmer—and that is exactly what earned the Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) national recognition this year.
JGF received the Outstanding CSR Project in Enterprise Development award at the 2026 League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) CSR Guild Awards for its Agri-Tech Facilitators (ATF) Program, a farmer-led initiative that is helping smallholder farmers improve productivity, adopt climate-smart technologies, and increase their incomes.
Rather than relying on traditional top-down agricultural training, the program empowers farmers themselves to become community-based agri-tech facilitators who mentor fellow farmers and introduce practical farming innovations tailored to local conditions.
Since its pilot implementation, the program has trained and certified 18 farmer leaders who have developed and implemented 14 agricultural technology projects across farming communities. Through peer-learning activities, farm demonstrations, and community engagements, these facilitators have reached more than 200 additional farmers nationwide.
“The most meaningful innovations are those that communities can understand, adapt, and sustain themselves,” said Gisela Tiongson, President of Jollibee Group Foundation.
“Through the Agri-Tech Facilitators Program, farmer leaders are not only learning new technologies, but also becoming mentors, problem-solvers, and trusted sources of knowledge within their communities. By enabling farmers to lead the adoption and share locally relevant solutions, we create lasting impact that extends far beyond individual farms.”
One of the program’s biggest success stories came from Laguna, where an Agri-Tech Facilitator introduced rain shelter technology for cabbage farming after experiencing severe weather-related crop losses. The innovation significantly boosted productivity—reducing the crop’s growing period from 120 days to as little as 90 days and increasing marketable harvests from just 30 kilograms in open-field farming to 174 kilograms under protected cultivation.
The farmer has since begun helping others adopt the same technology, demonstrating how farmer-led innovation can create a ripple effect across communities.
Another project showcased how greenhouse technology transformed tomato production. Farmers reported a 79% increase in yield, improved plant survival rates from 83.2% to 95.2%, a 32% reduction in production costs per kilogram, and nearly ten times higher net income compared with conventional open-field farming.
The Agri-Tech Facilitators Program forms part of JGF’s flagship Farmer Entrepreneurship Program (FEP), which aims to help smallholder farmers become more competitive suppliers for institutional markets, including the Jollibee Group’s supply chain.
Participants undergo classroom training, hands-on fieldwork, mentoring, and community-based practicum projects that equip them with skills in climate-smart agriculture, agricultural extension, project implementation, and participatory technology development. To improve accessibility, training materials were translated into Filipino.
The program was developed in partnership with leading academic institutions. Ateneo de Cagayan–Xavier University helped design and deliver the training, Central Luzon State University developed learning modules, while the University of the Philippines Los Baños conducted a formative evaluation that validated the program’s effectiveness in strengthening farmers’ technical and leadership capabilities.
For JGF, the award highlights more than the success of a corporate social responsibility initiative. It underscores a scalable model where farmers are not only beneficiaries of innovation but also become educators, mentors, and drivers of agricultural transformation in their communities.
By investing in farmer-led learning and climate-smart technologies, the Foundation hopes to help more smallholder farmers build resilient livelihoods and gain better access to long-term market opportunities—proving that when farmers teach farmers, entire communities can grow.