YOUNG FARMERS CHALLENGE (YFC) PROGRAM - COMPONENT 1: YFC START UP,

SUBCOMPONENT A: OPEN CATEGORY

Rationale
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (2020), the total number of persons
employed in agriculture continued to decline from 2014 to 2018. In 2019, about 9.70
million persons were recorded as employed in the sector. Correspondingly, the
agriculture sector’s contribution to the country’s total employment decreased to 22.9
percent.
In addition, young Filipinos are increasingly less interested in the agriculture industry,
partly due to farmers being underpaid, with Php 247.81 average basic wage as of 20192.
The average age for Filipino farmers is between 57 and 59 years old, which raises
concerns about who will carry out the important task of farming in the coming years
(Asis, 2020).
As part of the Department of Agriculture's (DA) thrust under Section 17 of the
"Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997’’ to formulate programs for the
rural youth to engage in agriculture, the DA implemented the Young Farmers Challenge
(YFC) Program. The YFC Program supports and empowers young farmers and fisherfolk
to be active partners in food security and agricultural development and modernization.
The Program encourages the youth to engage in activities related to agriculture,
agribusiness and agri-entrepreneurship as agents and partners for sustainable
development.

YFC Start-Up - a competitive financial grant assistance program for the youth who will
engage in new or start-up agri-fishery enterprises.

Subcomponent A (Open Category) will be open to all interested youth ages 18-30 with
a business idea with profitability potential. The grants shall serve as start-up capital for
the proposed agri-fishery enterprise operated by either an individual or a joint venture
of two or more youth.

Objectives
This program seeks to encourage the youth to engage in agri-fishery enterprises on a
sustained basis to showcase its viability as a primary source of income comparable to
employment in industry/service sectors. Specifically, it aims to:
a. Provide the youth access to capital to enable them to venture into profitable agrifishery
enterprises; and
b. Provide agri-fishery business development assistance to further strengthen the agri-
entrepreneurship capabilities of the youth.
YFC Start-Up Competition Theme
The Agri-Business Models shall focus on start-up agri-fishery enterprises—from micro to
small scale—which are innovative, have the potential to generate incomes comparable to
incomes of salaried workers in urban areas, and integrate sustainability into their
business strategy. This is to encourage the generation of new agri-fishery enterprises.
Innovative means the business model can provide new solutions to an identified problem
(e.g. production, process, marketing, etc.). Viability means the business model has a clear
target market and marketing strategy for at least one (1) year that can generate a good
revenue stream and can show the potential to be scaled up in the future. Sustainability
means that the enterprise can execute and maintain these strategies in ensuring its
continuous enterprise operation. These shall be reflected on the Business Model Canvas
(BMC) and Activity and Financial Plan to be submitted by the applicants.
Level 1 (Provincial Level Competition)
The Provincial Panel of Judges shall select the Level 1 awardees who shall receive PhP
80,000 each enterprise. These enterprises could be operated solely by an individual
youth or a group-managed enterprise. From among the provincial awardees, the
provincial panel of judges shall select enterprises that will compete at the regional level
competition.
There shall be three (3) categories of enterprises as follows:
(a) Production - enterprise engaged in the production of crops, livestock, poultry,
fisheries or aquaculture, farm tourism, agri-fishery inputs and fabrication of farm
machinery/equipment;
(b) Processing - enterprise engaged in transforming, packaging, sorting or grading of
agri- fishery commodities into products; and
(c) Digital Agriculture - an enterprise that uses digital technology in providing tools or
services for the improvement of farm/fishery production and/or processing.

Eligibility Criteria of Applicants

To participate in the competition, applicants must pass the following criteria:
a. Age is 18 to 30 years old at the time of application;
b. Natural born Filipino citizen;
c. Has the resources, network, or capability to venture/engage in agriculture and fishery
business enterprise, the location of which is within the region he/she is competing; and
d. In the case of groups, all members must pass the above eligibility criteria, and members
are not relatives up to the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity.
The following are not eligible to participate in the competition:
a. Personnel of the DA, its Regional Field Offices, bureaus, attached agencies, and
corporations, including their relatives up to the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or
affinity;
b. Personnel of the Provincial, Municipal, and City Agricultural and Veterinary Offices;
c. Previous Young Farmers Challenge Program Awardees;
d. Recipients of any grant assistance or awards either in cash or in kind, amounting to
PhP 50,000 and above, from the DA, its Regional Field Offices, bureaus, attached agencies,
and corporations within one (1) year before the deadline of submission of application
requirements.

Application Requirements
a. Application letter addressed to Regional Executive Director;
b. Duly accomplished Application Form;
c. Business Model Canvas (BMC) and Activity and Financial Plan as prescribed by the
program;
d. Clear scanned copy of at least one (1) valid ID (indicating the date of birth);
e. Proof of residency of any of the following: (Barangay Certification, valid ID) indicating
home address;
f. Endorsement from the Provincial/ Municipal/ City Agriculture/ Veterinary Offices;
g. Latest 2x2 ID Photo with white background;
h. For group-managed enterprise, the members shall submit a declaration of intent
amongst themselves that they commit to registering as a partnership or corporation
within one (1) year from receipt of the grant; and
i. Needed additional documents per category of enterprise, as follows:

1. Production Category
• Duly accomplished "Form 1 - Authority to use land or property" Proof that he/she has
an available farm lot or space for the production activity such as a scanned copy of the
land title in the name of the applicant or his/her parent/guardian, lease or rental
agreement from the lot/property owner, certification from lot/property owner allowing
the youth to use such lot/property for the enterprise.

2. Processing Category
• Duly accomplished "Form 2 - Suppliers Information” Proof that he/she has readily
available supply directly from his/her farm, his/her family-owned farm, or from other
farms. In case of the latter, he/she shall submit the name/s and location of farmers/
fisherfolk that committed to supplying the raw materials for his/her enterprise.
3. Digital Agriculture Category
• Blue Print, Autocad, among others Proof of readiness to implement as shown by
available software/application to be used in the project.

Application Procedure
a. Interested applicants may submit their application and all requirements to the DA
Regional Field Offices (in case of other regions). Applicants are encouraged to submit
online through the concerned offices' designated email accounts, and/or online platforms
created for the purpose.
b. Only applicants with complete requirements shall be processed for screening.
Applicants with two (2) or more applications and late and/or incomplete submission of
requirements will automatically be disqualified.
Evaluation Criteria
Selection criteria for the "Search for Outstanding Agri-Business Models" shall be as
follows:
a. Entrepreneurial attributes. Entrepreneurial attributes or traits are the typical
characteristics, abilities, and thought patterns associated with successful entrepreneurs.
The applicant must exhibit basic entrepreneurial attitudinal attributes such as integrity
(proof that he/she can be trustworthy), risk-taking (willingness to take calculated risks),
passion (exhibits strong motivation to pursue agribusiness), good communication and
marketing skills (as evidenced by his/her sales pitch), and leadership qualities (with
vision and drive to excel).
b. Innovativeness of the business proposal. Innovativeness means new ways of
addressing a problem (e.g. market need, value chain problem, or production system
weakness). This can be an introduction of new or modern technologies and/or
enhancement of existing techniques and processes in producing goods and services,
and/or marketing agricultural products.
c. Revenue stream of the business proposal. The proposed business must show the
clear potential of generating a revenue stream. The proposal can show clear plans for
achieving business transactions and how the business will be able to expand its market
over time.
d. Value Addition. Value adding is the enhancement of a product or service that provides
an additional economic value to an agri-fishery commodity/ product to attract more
customers and consequently increase revenue/profit. Value can also be added in
different ways such as branding a product to differentiate it from others, or adding extra
or special features to a product to increase the value of the product or service to its
customers.
e. Social Responsibility. The proposed business is socially responsible as shown by: (a)
its potential to scale up operations that can generate jobs for the community, (b)
contribute to the welfare of others such as household savings on consumers by offering
quality but affordable agri-fishery commodities/products or services and (c) promote
environmental protection and conservation.