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| Monsanto Philippines, in partnership with the local government of Urbiztondo, recently conducted a seminar on financial literacy to 200 corn farmers. |
Monsanto Philippines recently conducted a seminar on financial literacy for 200 corn farmers in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan, with the goal of broadening farmer’s knowledge on managing farm income and finances. The event was organized in partnership with the local government of Urbiztondo, a third class municipality, through its Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO).
The training was facilitated by financial consultants from the International Marketing Group-Wealth Academy (IMG-Wealth Academy). The 200 farmers who attended the training were selected from each of the corn farming barangays of Urbiztondo. In his opening remarks, Mayor Martin Sison II highlighted that trainings like this are beneficial especially to farmers. He requested the “attendees to share the knowledge that they have gained from the seminar to their fellow farmers and neighbors so that everyone can benefit from it.”
Meanwhile, Ms Charina Garrido-Ocampo, Corporate Affairs Lead of Monsanto Philippines, stressed the importance of broadening financial literacy in the rural parts of the country. “According to the 2015 survey of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services, Philippines is one of the 30 least financially literate countries in the world, and only 25% of Filipino adults are aware of the basics of managing their finances,” Ocampo said.
During the seminar, the farmers were trained how to manage their income and were taught some strategies on how to save money. The financial consultants from IMG gave a lecture on how to build a solid financial foundation. “When it comes to securing and saving for their future, many people fail. They don’t set out to fail, but they do because they failed to plan and manage their personal finances. They lack financial education,” said Mr. Budz Oblena, one of the speakers from IMG- Wealth Academy.
This is the third financial literacy training which Monsanto conducted. The first one was held in Bukidnon where they trained 300 farming families on financial and digital literacy, followed by a seminar in Cagayan where they reached out to 200 government employees and underprivileged college students.
In her closing remarks, Vice Mayor Marilyn Sison expressed her gratitude to Monsanto Philippines for helping the farmers in Urbiztondo. “Our focus in on agriculture-- most importantly our farmers. We are happy that Monsanto reached out to us and we appreciate that they have chosen our Municipality to be a beneficiary of their activity,” she articulated.
About Monsanto Philippines
Monsanto Philippines is a local unit of Monsanto, a Fortune 500 global power company with a diverse portfolio of advanced biotechnology products produced in 404 facilities in 66 countries. To date, Monsanto Philippines has four facilities spread out across the country, which includes its head office in Alabang, a Refuge-in-a-Bag (RIB) Plant and cold warehouse located in Bulacan, and an R&D station in Mindanao. The company also has partnerships with the Philippine government through the Department of Agriculture as well as the local scientific and academic communities in the promotion of modern agricultural biotechnology. To learn more, please visit www.monsanto.ph.
About Monsanto
Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce seeds for fruits, vegetables and key crops – such as corn, soybeans, sorghum, canola, and cotton – that help farmers have better harvests while using water and other important resources more efficiently. We work to find sustainable solutions for soil health, help farmers use data to improve farming practices and conserve natural resources, and provide crop protection products to minimize damage from pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and others to help tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.