LOS BAÑOS, Philippines – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is unveiling its new program Emerging Innovation for Growth, supported by the “SEARCA innovEIGhts” model of open collaboration with academe-industry-government partnerships.
Dr. Glenn Gregorio, SEARCA Director, in his invitation letter to potential institutional collaborators, said that the Emerging Innovation for Growth Program, powered by SEARCA innovEIGhts Model, will be launched through the SEARCA Online Learning and Virtual Engagement (SOLVE) platform on 14 October 2020 in a public event titled “Launching ATTAIN AGRi 4.0.”
“The Emerging Innovation for Growth is our flagship program in the SEARCA 11th Five-Year Plan toward Accelerating Transformation through Agricultural Innovation or ATTAIN. The challenging task of ushering our farmers from obsolete ways of farming, limited to a production perspective, towards an agribusiness mindset in an innovative agriculture ecology called Agriculture 4.0, requires working together with partners and organizations who share this goal,” said Dr. Gregorio.
Keynote speakers for the launching of SEARCA innovEIGhts are big-name personalities in agribusiness incubation and agri-technology transfer. Ms. Ana Margarita ‘Ginggay’ Hontiveros-Malvar is Senior Adviser for GoNegosyo AgriPreneurship and Mr. Paco Magsaysay is CEO of Carmen’s Best Ice Cream.
“The SEARCA innovEIGhts Model calls for institutional partnerships across the Southeast Asia region and beyond to foster an open collaboration culture that harnesses the power of engaged minds to co-create innovative solutions transforming the lives of our farmers and farming families,” said Dr. Rico C. Ancog, Operations Consultant for Emerging Innovation for Growth.
Dr. Ancog revealed that the SEARCA innovEIGhts model consists of six component tools that partners can draw upon for designing initiatives and scaling them up and out to ATTAIN AGRi 4.0.
INDEX is the research and information arm to measure and ensure the impact of innovation initiatives on the wellbeing of farming families. SERVES provides hands-on technical advisory for farming community livelihood projects and practical innovative solutions to persistent farming challenges. iDEATES focuses on agri-innovation competitions engaging the youth, children, students and brilliant minds to modernize agriculture and build local rural innovation ecosystems. BLOCKS is an open shared service hub promoting locally adaptable agri-technologies, prototypes and practices for small farmers and rural communities. A4LIFE builds local and community-based innovation ecosystem and inclusive agribusiness value chains to produce a generation of green startups and agripreneurs. SPACE is a powerful innovation and open collaboration regional gateway for agri-incubation and technology transfer information, programs, resources, and networks in the world.