Raising funds for farmers via crowdsourcing

A newly formed millennial team is now making waves in the field of agribusiness with the objective of helping uplift the lives of Filipino farmers.

Cropital, the team founded by Ruel Amparo, Rachel de Villa and Everett Ubiadas, is a crowdfunding startup that seeks to generate funds from both domestic and international sources for lending to Filipino farmers.

With a capital of less than P10,000, representing portion of the prize money from a competition they won, members of the team launched in November last year Cropital and its crowdfunding platform. It did a pilot run  in Bulacan that covered five hectares of farmland.

Since the launch, Cropital has so far raised $60,000 or about P2.9 million that funded 40 farmers.

Ruel Amparo, 24, says the team is now trying to expand its reach, help farmers, be instrumental in building communities and engage young players in this agribusiness venture. At present, Cropital is focusing on on rice and corn farmers.

“I find the concept of crowdsourcing or sharing economy very interesting. It is quite similar to bayanihan, it harnesses the power of many. It links like-minded individuals and gear them toward something big,” Amparo said.

The age of social media gave rise to Cropital’s online platform, linking farmers with investors. Posted online are the list of farmers in need of funding and their profiles. The intended farmer beneficiaries are verified and screened by concerned local government units. Cropital also seeks the help of nongovernment organizations, farmers groups and other institutions in identifying the beneficiaries.

Interested farmers are required to submit certain requirements, including an application form and barangay clearance, and must pass the interview being done by Cropital.

To cover weather risks, crop insurance is provided to farmers through Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. “The insurance cost is integrated in the capital to be raised for the farmers.”

Users of the platform may choose the farmers they want to fund and the amount they will extend. Investors will get repaid with returns, the amount of which will depend on the farmer beneficiaries’ yield.

Amparo believes Cropital could be a silver lining to the farmers’ plight.

“Cropital is one of the first players in tech-microfinancing. It is highly scalable. It can help lower farmers’ financing cost and help increase the farmers’ productivity through data analytics  and economies of scale,” he said.

In June, Cropital posted the names and profile of 15 farmers in need of funding. In less than 24 hours after posting, all 15 were fully funded, raising P1.5 million and 696 farm pledges.

Amparo says Cropital protects the interests both of their investors and the beneficiary farmers.

“In getting investors, we just do what we usually do. We post on our website their (farmers) their stories, background and technical capacity. We also share their personal background and their farming history…what crops they have planted before, the weather condition in their areas and the risks involved,” Amparo says.

At present, the group is also focusing on building farming communities in Calabarzon and Central Luzon, Recently, they expanded to Benguet and the province of Quezon.

Cropital is a multiawarded social enterprise. The team was recognized by the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center, Startup Summit Philippines, Young Entrepreneurs Society Philippines and Youth Entrepreneurship Development  Workshop, Go Negosyo.

The team is currently under the Department of Science and Technology Enterprise, a technology business incubator.

“Our vision is to cover as many farmers as we can and improve our processes and selection criteria along the way. We are conducting a series of iteration (to ensure) that the process that we have is correct and we study to further improve it. (We’re) working on coming up with the ideal setup, and the ideal phase for us to make sure that we will help make these farmers successful,” Amparo says.