Investment in Rural Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity (IREAP) component of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project recently conducted (DA-PRDP) series of Business Plan Review to the three enterprise subprojects in Caraga Region.

The three subprojects  include the Banana Production and Trading of Kinabugawan Farmers Producers Cooperative in Veruela, Agusan del Sur;  Quality Raw Rubber Production, Processing and Marketing of Bayugan Rubber Producers Cooperative (BARUPCO) in Poblacion, Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur ;and Integrated Abaca Enhancement Enterprises of San Isidro Upland Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte.

Business plan review helps ensure that its enterprise subproject will attain sustainability in agriculture and fishery sectors by identifying the gaps and providing the necessary and appropriate intervention.

This is also part of harmonizing the initiatives and programs of DA units and agencies in the identification and provision of interventions to optimize market opportunities.

Four aspects of the enterprise were assessed during the activity particularly the organizational, marketing, finance, and operational aspects.

On the organizational aspects, the Proponent Groups already have established their organizational structures as well as the by-laws and role of each member but additional trainings are also needed to enhance their capacity.

The cooperatives also have written policies for its operation but there is still a need to strengthen the information drive to its members. They also have identified buyers but they still need to forge market agreements with buyers.

Their financial aspect, on the other hand, still needs a lot of intervention due to lack of capacity in auditing, financial reporting, and monitoring of the in and out of their finances.

All these results will be used in crafting capacity development plan to further enhance the business operations of the enterprise of each cooperative.

Business plan is one of the vital documents that describe the processes of an enterprise including the management tool that checks the business objectives and to propose how these objectives will be attained on a given period of time.

The first batch of enterprise process review kicked last September 10-11 in Sta. Emilia, Veruela, Agusan del Sur, followed by Poblacion Bayugan on September 12-13, and Cabadbaran City, Agusan del Norte on September 18-19,2019. (Joy M. Montecalvo)