The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Leads Agricultural Products Corporation (LEADS Agri) have been exploring ways to collaborate on climate-adaptive farming. Their intent to cooperate on projects focused on climate-resilient agriculture and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Philippines and neighboring countries was formalized in a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on 28 February 2025 with SEARCA Center Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio and LEADS Agri President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Maria Fernando Malveda as signatories.
LEADS Agri is a 100 percent Filipino-owned company that intends to contribute its expertise in monitoring sustainable farm practices using remote-sensing technologies, conducting onsite measurement and data collection of GHG emissions, and carrying out farm surveys and geotagging using its DigiSaka mobile application. SEARCA will assist in data validation, protocol development for GHG measurement, and creating monitoring frameworks that complement LEADS Agri's remote sensing and on-site data collection.
Furthermore, LEADS Agri will assist in identifying target sites and farmer groups for project implementation and will codevelop frameworks and templates for farm accreditation into carbon credit programs under the Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) context.
Meanwhile, SEARCA will support farmer education and engagement on carbon credit systems and coordinate with relevant stakeholders to facilitate project implementation.
Moreover, SEARCA will provide policy recommendations to support farmers' adoption of sustainable practices and will codevelop farm accreditation frameworks for carbon credit programs.