HEDCOR SUSTAINS COOPERATIVES ‘LIVELIHOOD’ IN NORTH LUZON

October 29, 2022 Community Billboard

Hedcor implements sustainable livelihood programs for partner cooperatives in North Luzon, to spur the economic opportunities in the region. In partnership with Aboitiz Foundation (AFI), Hedcor provides a wide range of technical and financial support, including capacity building. business acumen, market access, and digital literacy among others.

With its strategic interventions, Hedcor assists in the competitiveness of its host communities to be self sufficient post-pandemic. Becoming Madigiskarteng Agripreneur Byaheng Digiskarte is one of Hedcor’s flagship livelihood assistance which aims to revitalize the income of local farmers. Their organic produce
are turned into healthy processed products, which are being sold in an online platform, Session Groceries.

“The pandemic has underscored the opportunity for us to improve the way we serve our consumers, and the trend shows us that it is towards e-commerce, ”says Noreen Vicencio, Vice President for Corporate Services. “Hedcor and Aboitiz Foundation accelerate the adoption of our communities on e-commerce. We elevate and innovate farming with digital interventions and digital solutions.

Aside from empowering them with skills on food processing, business plan development and basic
accounting, Hedcor supports the local farmers thrive with digital marketing skills. Girly Sahoy, owner of
Sahoy Farm shared that through the program her farm was officially named. “I once thought that we could only sell our fresh-from-the-harvests.

With the training given by Hedcor and Aboitiz Foundation, it now gives me a sense of pride to see our organic strawberry juices be patronized by many. Hedcor and AFI partnered with One Concord Food
Solutions to provide local farmers with food processing skills and techniques. Pioneering Capacity Building
Training Hedcor inked a Memorandum of Agreement with the Municipality of La Trinidad to strengthen and
enhance both the management and leadership skills of Hedcor’s partner cooperatives.

“The various capacity building trainings lined-up for our partner cooperatives are carefully crafted, to not only advance them in the management of their programs but to also gear them towards having self-sustaining initiatives,” says Vicencio. Vicencio furthered that partner-cooperatives’ skills need to be future-ready. Hence, the series of training will reinforce their knowledge, skills, and expertise to stay relevant and up to date with emerging practices and technologies.