The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), through its Research and Thought Leadership Department (RTLD), conducted the Back-to-Back Training Workshops on Roadmap Development and Marketing Strategies on 27 February to 3 March 2023 at the SEARCA headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna. The five-day training workshops are part of the project titled, Development of the Coconut Industry Roadmap and Capacitating Stakeholders of Quezon Province. The project is a collaboration among SEARCA, the provincial government of Quezon (PG Quezon), and the Philippine Coconut Authority Region IV (PCA). The training workshops aimed to capacitate selected representatives from the coconut industry in Quezon Province on the development of a commodity roadmap, as well as on product marketing and on branding in preparation for the planned road mapping exercise under the project.
Dr. Gerlie T. Tatlonghari, RTLD Program Head, welcomed the participants on behalf of SEARCA Director Glenn B. Gregorio. She reiterated that SEARCA had been actively involved in commodity road mapping activities in the Philippines and other neighboring ASEAN countries. In these efforts, it has become evident that the road mapping process is a complicated but effective way of engaging and ensuring participation of a wide range of stakeholders in crafting plans and strategies for the development of agricultural value chains. With this, SEARCA continues to provide technical assistance to the national and local governments in developing commodity industry roadmaps that are inclusive and “owned” by the stakeholders.
Ms. Leilani M. Briosos-Mc Donough, the lead technical consultant for the coconut roadmapping exercise, facilitated the first training-workshop on roadmap development. She covered four major topics: introduction to roadmapping, the roadmapping process, roadmapping planning, and effective facilitation.
The second training workshop on marketing strategies was facilitated by Asst. Prof. Renen Szilardo de Guzman from the Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship, College of Economics and Management of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). He introduced the basic concepts of marketing, consumer behavior, and competition. Also, he discussed the use of various marketing tools for collaterals, as well as online and social media content creation.
Various experts in agribusiness value chain, commodity, and coconut industry from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) of Quezon and PCA Region IV attended the week-long event. They were joined by members from the Pederasyon ng Samahan ng Magniniyog sa Quezon (PSMQ) and Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council (PAFC). These experts will coordinate and support the process of the roadmap development for the province.
The Quezon province coconut roadmapping team is composed of Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Ma. Leonellie Dimalaluan and OPAg Coconut Division Head Monina Jacobo, who serve as roadmap team leaders. The team members include Mr. Lorenz Jude Crispino and Ms. Charie Pagkaliwangan, who are both agricultural technologists; Mr. John Carlo Llorin, administrative assistant; and Mr. Jansept Hello Geronimo, communication affairs officer. They are all from OPAg Quezon. The other members are Ms. Yehlene Warain, project development officer, and Ms. Marianne Maranan, agriculturist, both from PCA Region IV, as well as selected members from PSMQ and PAFC.