The inception of the School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) in 2014 could not have come at a better time. Aging farmers are retiring with few taking over their roles and agricultural schools are closing down due to dwindling enrollment, threatening the country’s food security.

In just a decade, the country’s pioneering agri-school system for the poor produced results and seemed to end the specter of a food crisis.

From one school in Angat, Bulacan, SEED now has six campuses, two each in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The schools are in Bacolod, Bukidnon, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Davao and Leyte. 

SEED targets to train a thousand agricultural trainers per campus, which has at least a hectare of farmland.

The goal is to have one campus for every region or a total of 12 nationwide, with all producing 15,000 to 20,000 graduates per year.

The SEED curricula — organic agricultural production and agro-entrepreneurship — come from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. It lasts 20 to 30 days with an additional one-month training on community organizing and communication and another month-long on-the-job training.

So far, there are already 800 graduates, 82 percent of whom are pursuing a college education. About 20 percent of those who took up four-year courses stayed in the agricultural field. While many went to take up other jobs, becoming teachers and entrepreneurs, the outcome is still positive considering that they were originally out-of-school youths due to poverty, according to SEED director Mark Cruz.

SEED scholars come from the thousands of Gawad Kalinga communities across the country. They are at least 18 years old or graduates of Grade 12. They are recruited with consent from their parents.

The scholars are trained to plant vegetables that are used for cooking pinakbet and sinigang: talong, okra, pechay, ampalaya, kalabasa and kangkong. These can be grown in 15 to 20 days.
The vegetables are intended for the consumption of the community, but they can be sold if the harvest is in commercial quantity. The profit is shared or saved by the community.

Cruz estimates that a 1.5 to 2 kilos of vegetables can be grown in one square meter of farm or a ton per 500 square meter per month.

SEED scholars have built around 200 farms over the past four years. About 10 percent of these are being prepared for commercial operation.