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Ignite Impact and BioPrime

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 07:11:35 GMT

Farmers in the Philippines, in particular rice farmers, are among the poorest in the country. With the rising prices of milled rice, some might think that farmers as a class are better off, but the reality that the rice value chain sees three changes of hands, with diminishing returns at each stage for the farmers. After the transfer of rice from farmer to trader to miller to wholesaler/retailer, an ordinary rice farmer only receives 5% of a share in profits for every 25kg sack of milled rice sold.

Not only do they get little in return for their crops, but they also have to account for rising input costs. The low prices of unmilled rice and high input costs juxtaposed with low farmer incomes farmers are hard pressed to break even. As a result, they have little to no incentive to farm and harvest. If the farmers were to sell their unmilled rice at P19 per kilogram – which is the current buying price of the National Food Authority (NFA) – they would lose even more money. Rice production is often impacted by by weather conditions and the constant conversion of farmland to roads or infrastructure. A further complication is that many farmers continue to use farming practices that do not maximize yield, deplete the soil and result in runoff and related pollution.

In an interview with Business World online, Teodoro C. Mendoza, an agronomist and a retired professor affiliated with the Institute of Crop Science at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, makes the claim that traditional fertilization practices are a part of the issue. “The farmers are not applying sufficient fertilizer due to its very high price. Even if there wasn’t a typhoon, prices would still rise because farmers could not put in sufficient fertilizer.”

The prices of a number of fertilizers have risen, with the price of urea specifically increasing by nearly 94%, according to the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region. This is due to multiple factors which include supply disruptions (for example, the conflict with Ukraine and Russia, where a large portion of the world’s fertilizers and fertilizer components are produced) as well as export restrictions (by China). Mendoza also noted that the price of a 1 kilogram bag of urea fertilizer had risen to P2,850 as of September 2022 from the previous price of P1,000 pre-fertilizer crisis. There is no indication the trend to higher prices will ease in the near term.

PhilRice, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, holds an annual “fertilizer derby” that encourages and promotes farmers to use biofertilzers and biostimulants in combination with inorganic fertilizer. This year several commercial demonstration trials were conducted during the PhilRice Fertilizer Derby.

Of those commercial demonstration trials, 60 were conducted using a product known as BioPrime 5-5-5. This is a biofertilizer that was developed over many years of research and development to help farmers use fewer synthetic fertilizers while allowing them to increase yield and revenue. The 60 farm trials using BioPrime have demonstrated that even small rice farmers can achieve balanced fertilization process using 50% less inorganic inputs but yielding significant gains in yield and revenue.

Although local farmers still use urea as part of their fertilization protocol, it’s use was decreased by 50% as part of these trials. If a farmer historically uses 10 bags of urea and 14-14-14 fertilizer – a “complete” fertilizer that uses equal percentages of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium – the cost as of the date of this article is P2,850 per bag and rising. When using BioPrime a farmer needs only 5 bags of traditional fertilizer. Using only 35-grams of BioPrime, farmers are already producing more for less while reducing dependency on more harmful inorganic fertilizers and pesticides.

As of the end of the wet season of 2022, farms using Bioprime had an average yield increase of 39.01% for rice farming, resulting in a net income increase of P26,855.89.

The PhilRice Fertilizer Derby concluded this year with an average yield of 6.20 tons per hectare with 50% less inorganic inputs, and an average net income of P66,528.28, by farmers who used BioPrime.

This is enough to significantly help our local farmers to improve their quality of life.

Bioprime has been used in trials for other crops such as coffee and corn and has shown even greater yield increases for such crops.

The Philippine Statistics Authority releases an update on the country’s poverty incidence every three years. This is to show “the proportion of poor individuals whose per capita income is not sufficient to meet their basic food and non-food needs.” Based on their latest report from 2021, their numbers show that the average annual per capita poverty threshold in the seven regions where BioPrime’s demo farms are located is P28,684.71. With BioPrime’s biofertilizer product, the results of field trials using Bioprime demonstrate that local farmers in the regions could gain an average of P37,843.57 to their net income, a material improvement that would lift many families out of the poverty cycle.

To date, BioPrime has been deployed in over 20,000 hectares across the country, helping increase the crop yields and income of over 19,000 small-holder farmers. BioPrime shows great promise of delivering as the tangible impact of bringing thousands of farmers out of poverty while still preserving the environment. The Ignite Impact Fund is an investor in and partner to Bioprime.

Investing in ourselves for a better normal

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 07:53:37 GMT

"Isn't it time that we invested in the many undervalued assets in the country, most of them outside Metro Manila? Isn't it time we Filipinos invested in ourselves?"

In an article published in The Manila Times, founder and principal Maoi Arroyo writes about how it's time for the Filipino people to invest in themselves as well as addressing what should be "a better normal" for the Philippines.

Making Profit While Serving a Purpose

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 08:12:22 GMT

"It's about time that Filipinos invest in the Philippines in the many deeply undervalued assets and our natural resources and our ingenuity."

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted global markets.

Many companies are finding opportunities to pivot to recover, and discover ways to grow in order to overcome the many challenges we're faced with today.

One company's business model for success is to profit-for-a purpose by investing in the Filipino. - CNN Philippines

Our founder and principal, Maoi Arroyo, made an appearance on CNN Philippines' The Final Word with Rico Hizon. Watch above to see what she has to say about impact investing and investing in the Philippines.

Coral Focused

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 07:19:08 GMT

The Ignite team is proud and excited to be part of this year’s World Ocean Week celebration! Coral reef preservation and restoration is absolutely vital to economic growth and sustainability in the Philippines. Yet right now coral reefs, ecosystems that have existed for more than 400 million years, face the real prospect of extinction with the span of a single human life. Human impact has had a devastating impact on the hard corals that build reefs. For past 75 years or so practices like cyanide and dynamite fishing, sewage dumping and just a lot more humans in and around reefs has led to massive damage to reef infrastructure. Efforts to restore damaged reefs have yielded encouraging results. However, a global crisis around corals is now upon us. In 2016 alone an estimated 30% of hard corals in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef were lost. Lizard Island, once a major tourist attraction, suffered loss of almost all of its live corals. This is not an isolated event; worldwide an estimated 50% of all hard corals have died and the rate of extinction is accelerating. At the present pace it is estimated that by 2050 over 95% of all hard corals in the world will have died off. This is serious and it is upon us right now. Ignite is currently studying options for creating meaningful impact and substantial environmental change to save this vital part of the ocean that has existed longer than the human species.

The Oceanic society explains the value of coral reefs: “Beyond their intrinsic value and the roles they play in supporting vast numbers of marine species, coral reefs also provide a plethora of functions that benefit humans. They help prevent coastal erosion, offer protection from storm surge, and support jobs ranging from fishing to tourism. It’s estimated that the economic value of coral reefs is at least $30 billion per year, but most likely much higher, and more than 500 million people worldwide rely on coral reefs for food, income, coastal protection, and more.” Loss of reef structures will lead to catastrophic erosion in coastal areas, will accelerate climate change and will devastate coastal economies. There will be no more finding Nemo.

We’re interested in sustainability projects that would do good for local communities, as well as the planet at large. The initiatives we are focused on funding include pollution cleanup/prevention (especially related to plastics), artificial barrier structures, and coral farming/preservation. Some methods of preservation and restoration exist and are already being implemented on a small scale in the Philippines and other coastal sites around the world. For example, many decommissioned ships have been sunk to provide a palate for corals to inhabit. A massive artificial reef structure has been created in the Gulf of Mexico by dumping decommissioned military tanks. The use of new techniques to accelerate the speed at which corals propagate have created an opportunity to create new wealth through coral horticulture. Scientists around the world are working to genetically engineer corals to be more resilient to changed oceanic conditions.

An increasing awareness of the severity of the problem has led investors in the developed and developing world partner with and support efforts to save the reefs in all parts of the world. Ignite is at the forefront of this effort. Our mission is to address poverty and related social challenges by creating new economic community tied to environmental enhancement. In the maritime space we get the urgency. We believe there are viable solutions. Ignite will continue to seek out partners who value the same goal of preserving and restoring vital coral reefs in the Philippines, and work to find, fund and empower initiatives that support that goal.