Pilmico Foods Corporation (Pilmico), the food subsidiary of the Aboitiz Group, together with Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (AFI) recently renewed their partnership with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to provide livelihood assistance to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) nationwide.
Pilmico, AFI, and DAR formally renewed their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Signing last October 14, 2022, held at the Aboitiz office in Taguig City. The Pilmico-Aboitiz Foundation Livelihood Program in cooperation with DAR will provide ARBOs with livelihood opportunities through egg machines and gilt dispersal kits donations.
“It has been nearly ten years since we started with these [livelihood program] initiatives, and it is important that we continually assess how effective we are at helping our beneficiaries make the transition into successful small business owners. It is critical that we ensure that the initiatives we put forward remain relevant to the times, and many things have changed and will continue to change,” said Pilmico President and CEO Tristan Aboitiz.
The Pilmico Livelihood Program, the food group’s flagship corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, started in 2013, while its partnership with DAR began in 2017. Since the establishment of the partnership, Pilmico and DAR have distributed a total of 177 livelihood kits, amounting to a total of over Php 17.2 million to beneficiaries nationwide.
“In this era, we would like to see the farmers be integrated into the consumers’ group for them to have better purchasing power. Therefore, they would have greater chances of succeeding in any business they would engage in. If we help the farmers, we are going to build a healthy and productive country that shall be perfect for establishing businesses and other livelihoods,” Sec. Estrella said.
As they renew their partnership, Pilmico hopes that more and more backyard farmers will benefit from the livelihood opportunities they provide.
“Together with the team at the Department of Agrarian Reform, we look forward to driving the transformation of Filipino backyard farmers and small bakers, so that they, and their families, can play a sustainable role in growing the agribusiness sector of the Philippines in the years to come,” Aboitiz added.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the multi-year renewal history of this partnership say about its institutional maturity?
The Pilmico-Aboitiz-DAR livelihood partnership has been renewed multiple times since its initial establishment — in 2019 and again in 2022. This renewal history distinguishes it from single-cycle CSR initiatives and positions it as a sustained institutional program with demonstrated results and political credibility across multiple administrations. A program that survives government leadership transitions and produces sufficient evidence to be renewed rather than replaced has achieved a level of programmatic maturity that most CSR initiatives never reach.
What was renewed and what new commitments were made in the 2022 partnership signing?
On August 9, 2022, Pilmico and Aboitiz Foundation signed a renewed partnership agreement with the Department of Agrarian Reform, extending their collaborative livelihood assistance program for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries. The new agreement introduced enhanced features including a larger pool of beneficiaries, expanded geographic coverage, and a strengthened technical assistance component. The renewal was directly justified by the program’s documented track record — with earlier beneficiaries showing sustained income improvement and some having paid forward assistance to neighbors.
What types of livelihood kits are included in the renewed program?
The renewed program maintained the three-kit model established in earlier partnership phases: gilt kits (two breeding-age female pigs and initial feed), egg machine kits (egg-laying machines, ready-to-lay hens, and a weighing scale), and bakery starter kits (commercial baking equipment and flour). This three-pronged approach serves farmers with different assets, skills, and market opportunities — a poultry kit suits a beneficiary near an egg market, a gilt kit suits one with land for animal grazing, and a bakery kit suits one in a community with bread demand.
What data from previous program phases supported the renewal?
The program’s track record included the documented 20% household income increase experienced by the majority of earlier beneficiaries — cited as recently as the 2019 partnership renewal as the key evidence of program effectiveness. Additionally, by the time of the 2022 renewal, the Cebu and Bohol ASF recovery program had produced beneficiaries who paid forward assistance by donating animals to neighbors — a second-order impact that demonstrated the program had generated surplus beyond subsistence recovery.
Who signed the 2022 renewal and what institutional significance did the signatories carry?
The MOU was signed by senior executives from Pilmico, Aboitiz Foundation, and the Department of Agrarian Reform, maintaining the multi-stakeholder institutional structure of all previous partnership phases. DAR’s continued participation reflects its recognition that the Pilmico-Aboitiz model of paired livelihood kits and technical assistance produces outcomes that complement the department’s own agrarian reform mandate — and that renewing the partnership is a more efficient use of public resources than duplicating the program independently.
