PLDT and its mobile arm Smart Communications have partnered with Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) to develop digital solutions for cacao farmers in the Philippines.
MEDA is an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to poverty, to include increasing decent work opportunities in the agri-food system.
The MEDA partnership expands on PLDT Group’s Digital Farmers Program (DFP), its program with the Department of Agriculture- Agriculture Training Institute (DA-ATI).
DFP aims to help scale up digital inclusion and increase mobile internet literacy of farmers by introducing them to digital tools and applications to boost their farm productivity and livelihoods.
Under the partnership arrangement, PLDT and DA-ATI will add farming communities in the Davao region – the country's top cacao producer – in its DFP portfolio.
“The growing global cacao-based industry offers a wealth of opportunities, and stakeholders like ourselves must collaborate to enable, empower, and improve the livelihood of Filipino cacao farmers,” said Judee Chaves, head of Mindanao Relations at PLDT and Smart.
“Combining our business solutions with [PLDT-Smart] digital solutions, we hope to contribute to decent work creation for cacao farmers by helping them increase their yield and improve their income,” said Roderick Valones, Interim Country Director of MEDA Philippines.