The Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) has been conferred the Outstanding CSR Project in Enterprise Development award at the 2026 League of Corporate Foundations CSR Guild Awards for its Agri-Tech Facilitators (ATF) Program, an initiative centered on the principle that agricultural innovation delivers lasting impact when driven by farmers themselves. Moving beyond reliance on occasional external technical support, the program builds farmer leaders into local champions who identify, test, adapt, and share practical technologies and climate-smart practices within their own communities.
Gisela Tiongson, JGF president, noted that truly effective solutions are those communities can own and sustain. “Through this program, farmer leaders grow into mentors and trusted sources of knowledge, extending benefits well beyond individual farms. We share this honor with our farmers and partners who continue to build stronger, more resilient agricultural communities,” she added.
Launched under JGF’s flagship Farmer Entrepreneurship Program—which connects smallholder growers to institutional markets including the Jollibee Group—the ATF Program was developed to address farmers’ demand for accessible, context-appropriate technologies. The training combines classroom learning, hands-on fieldwork, mentoring, and community application, covering areas such as climate-resilient practices, project planning, and knowledge sharing, with all materials translated into Filipino for wider accessibility. To date, 18 farmer leaders have been certified as agri-tech facilitators, who have since rolled out 14 demonstration projects covering rain shelters, greenhouses, drip irrigation, vermicomposting, and green manuring, reaching over 200 fellow farmers through peer learning and on-site sessions.
The initiative was implemented in partnership with Ateneo de Cagayan – Xavier University, which led training design and delivery; Central Luzon State University, which supported module development; and the University of the Philippines Los Baños, which validated the program’s effectiveness in strengthening farmers’ leadership and technical capabilities. Field results have been significant: in Laguna, adoption of rain shelters for cabbage cut growing cycles from 120 days to 90–105 days and lifted marketable yield from 30 kg to 174 kg per crop, helping a farmer recover from total weather-related losses. Another project using greenhouses for tomatoes increased yields by 79 percent, raised plant survival from 83.2 percent to 95.2 percent lowered production costs by 32 percent per kilogram, and boosted net income nearly tenfold compared to open-field cultivation.
The CSR Guild Awards recognize exemplary corporate citizenship and sustainable social development work. For JGF, the award affirms the value of centering farmers as leaders of change. By advancing farmer-led innovation and peer support, the program builds climate resilience while helping smallholders participate more securely in formal supply chains. The foundation remains committed to elevating farming as a dignified, profitable livelihood by linking producers to knowledge, innovation, and market opportunities.
