THE XAVIER University-Ateneo de Cagayan recently partnered with Jollibee Group Foundation Inc. for the Agro-Enterprise Online Course Project.

XU said the project aims to form a group of agro-enterprise facilitators which will help smallholder farmers engage in collective marketing and become agro-entrepreneurs.

A Partnership Commitment was signed by University president Fr. Mars Tan and JGFI president Grace Tan Caktiong.

“The partnership with the Jollibee Group Foundation Inc. is a great opportunity to concretize Xavier Ateneo’s mission among smallholder farmers to enhance their agribusiness capabilities and consequently increase their income,” Tan said.

“Even with the present limitations and restrictions brought about by the pandemic, Xavier Ateneo, through its College of Agriculture and other support offices, is committed to do its part, albeit in modest ways, in the whole enterprise to alleviate poverty in the country,” he added.

The university said the one-year project will transform the current JGFI agro-enterprise training program into an online course that will be offered nationwide.

Leveraging on the strengths of their respective organizations, both XU and JGFI teams will work closely in the development and delivery of the program.

Caktiong, on the other hand, expressed her gratitude to the university, citing XU’s expertise in teaching, formation, research and outreach “is very valuable in making the agro-enterprise online course more accessible to facilitators in this field.”