I avoid stress, and the source of stress is unaddressed problems. So I make decisions right away, so the managers can move on."
JAMES Peñaflorida Amparo doesn't believe he deserves to be featured, so I casually read to him his curriculum vitae.
The founder of multiple agri-research companies in the Philippines, among them Yovel East Research and Development Inc., Yovel East Agri Enterprise and We Will Rice Farmers Inc., speaks with an even keel, without bluster.
He has both feet on the ground, with no room for navel-gazing. Amparo is in constant dialogue with farmers, consolidating their production and partnering with them for the new technologies produced by his research companies.
"I really love research and development," he said.
He had spent his university years at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, where he developed a taste for research. But he was neither in laboratories nor research institutes. He was studying film, "a very different field," he said.
It was through advertising that he channeled his love for agriculture, adopting it most of the time as his topic. There was no big mental leap there.
"I come from a family of farmers," he shared. "My grandfather and my father were farmers. So I really enjoyed the topic [of agriculture]."
Where the charm and the brilliance lie, he was well aware of.
"The gift that I recognize now that I have is that I really like to provide solutions." As a filmmaker, he had produced a number of documentaries and conducted countless interviews with farmers. But he was confounded by the actual simplicity of the situation.
"Inisip ko, bakit mukhang upfront naman ang solution [to the farmer's plight] pero hindi magawan ng paraan?" he asked. That was the challenge for him before going into an advertising company, where he focused on agriculture.
This engaged him in thorough research for about five years.
"We developed different technologies, and once developed, we started selling it." Once the profits came in, they developed new ones, such as fertilizers.
Amparo then started diffusing the fertilizers to farmers, and Yovel East was born.
They started with specialized nutrients for plants. Cascading the product of research was not straightforward. Farmers were among the poorest of the poor. So Amparo decided to give away the new technologies.
"I'd give it to them for four, five months. Then after harvest 'yung bayad," he explained. "So we have a side of our company where we sell, and another where we give away our fertilizers as part of CSR (corporate social responsibility)."
The farmers, in turn, became receptive and interested in sourcing products, such as urea, triple 14 and other fertilizers from Amparo's company. The clamor for other inputs, such as seeds, also followed. Amparo was happy to oblige the farmers, eventually developing a buy-back relationship with them, at the farmers' initiation. When farmers were given by his company products of a certain price, Yovel East would buy the equivalent of the farmers' produce.
Amparo's dialogues with the farmer revealed to him their business dispositions.
"Ang farmer kasi mas gusto n'yang kinukuha 'yung ani nila kesa nagbibigay ng pera (Farmers prefer to turn over their produce than put out money)," he said. That way, they felt they had savings. Yovel East seeing eye to eye with farmers might just be the model for winning them over where government projects had failed to penetrate mentalities for technological transfers and agricultural innovations.
Human side
Amparo's close relationship with farmers pushed him to take the partnership to more daring levels. Eventually, his company was buying farmers' entire produce.
It was just as well, because the pandemic hit, and markets clammed up. "Even though I didn't have a market then, I assured hundreds of farmers of buying all of their produce (palay [unmilled rice] and mais [corn])," Amparo recounted. The derring-do led to the formation of another initiative called We Will Rice.
"Sabi ko, bahala na, Lord," he chuckled. But this fatalism found a method: then-agriculture secretary William Dar supported his vision to buy farmers' produce, and the Department of Agriculture (DA) facilitated logistical access to barangays amid the lockdowns. "Ganoon ka-efficient ang DA noon!" he praised.
"I committed to all the produce of my farmers just to give them peace of mind," he explained. "Ang laking factor noon sa kanila. Takot na takot sila. Saan kami magbebenta?"
We Will Rice under Amparo would speak with farmers and assure them of the purchase arrangement two or three months prior to harvest. He even set a floor price that would match the price movements of the market. "Kung tumaas ang presyo, taas din tayo," he said.
James Amparo's social entrepreneurship earned him numerous plaudits, from 'Asia's Prominent Leader for Agricultural Entrepreneurship,' handed by Asia's Golden Icon Awards in 2024, to being top of mind for Gawad Pilipino editions (for which he was awarded as Outstanding Public Servant of the Year in 2023 and Hero of the Year in 2022). Contributed photosHence, Amparo came upon the best investment for the business model of his companies: farmers' peace of mind.
"Kaya sumusunod sila sa mga technologies na pino-propose namin," he said. There's nothing like an assured market to inspire innovation in farming practices.
Yet, these did not remain "bahala na" operations, despite Amparo's pleas to divinity. He was aware of the limits. He did not have enough warehouses to store his purchases; his funds were not bottomless.
"And I need to take care of my own farmers first," he added. Or at least, the ones to whom he had already made promises. He did go through the discomfort of turning away farmers knocking on the doors of his warehouses.
Those moments tugged at the business heartstrings — Amparo's break from the usual business models would be the difficult emotions, the humanity of the enterprise.
"Minsan, umiiyak ako sa tabi, kasi ang hirap tumanggi, during the pandemic."
This would light the proverbial fire under his seat.
"That's why we are always looking for markets," he explained. We Will Rice started supplying to the Bureau of Corrections, to partner companies with whom they had monthly arrangements. Meanwhile, research and development (R&D) carried on with Yovel East.
Financial model
Having compartmentalized agritech interventions into another company, the Yovel East Agri Ventures, and despite its success in having cascaded its R&D products to farmers, Amparo was sober enough to feel the inertia in farmers' lives.
"I wondered bakit hindi nagbabago buhay ng farmers," he observed.
Input technologies clearly weren't magic bullets. He learned of informal loan arrangements farmers were steeped in that normally charged 20-percent interest rates. Rural banks, in turn, would charge interest rates of 5 to 10 percent, on top of the burden of paperwork of loan applications.
Amparo decided to launch an end-to-end agri-finance model, financing the production of the farmers affiliated with the companies. The relationship of trust he built with the farmers was such that collections weren't a slog.
James Amparo's social entrepreneurship earned him numerous plaudits, from 'Asia's Prominent Leader for Agricultural Entrepreneurship,' handed by Asia's Golden Icon Awards in 2024, to being top of mind for Gawad Pilipino editions (for which he was awarded as Outstanding Public Servant of the Year in 2023 and Hero of the Year in 2022). Contributed photosThe expansion of Amparo's business models runs parallel to the needs of farmers. Currently, he and his team are building more warehouses and tying up with more bagsakan centers as the ultimate destination of farmers' produce. His vision to build a processing center for rice and corn might just be the emblem of "the stability we want for the farmers," he stated.
Yovel East is expanding to other crops by managing its own farms. There's a 70-hectare banana plantation in Davao supplying markets in Manila. It has also evolved into one of the biggest growers of durian in the city, running a 1.6-hectare durian farm to be fitted with the processing facilities for exports.
It's a full plate, but "I am really blessed with people, with managers I could trust," he described his handling of his situation.
"I have a point person for every aspect of the business."
Information technology, he asserted, is very critical. His companies are perfecting a system where he could monitor the cash flow, harvests and active farmers within the model.
"I avoid stress, and the source of stress is unaddressed problems," he said. "So I make decisions right away so the managers can move on."
Amparo's social entrepreneurship earned him numerous plaudits, from "Asia's Prominent Leader for Agricultural Entrepreneurship" handed by Asia's Golden Icon Awards in 2024, to being top of mind for Gawad Pilipino editions (for which he was awarded as Outstanding Public Servant of the Year in 2023 and Hero of the Year in 2022). The speaker badge consistently dangles from his collar in international engagements.
His relaxed demeanor then packs in a management style into which it might be excessive to inquire, especially if, results-wise, it ends up putting its finger on the very human issues in Philippine agriculture. To date, Amparo's companies have consolidated more than 5,000 farmers in Central and Southern Luzon. Want to help out farmers? Uniting and understanding them is Amparo's key.
Quick Questions
What really makes you angry?
I'm also impatient. I don't like traffic. Inefficiency makes me angry.
What motivates you to work hard?
The vision to help more people. Because I can now see the vision of Yovel and nanghihinayang ako if it won't come to full fruition. So I'm excited for that, and that keeps me going.
What makes you laugh the most?
When they ask me why I'm still single. Hindi ko alam ang isasagot, so natatawa na lang ako.
What did you want to be when you were small?
Tinanong ako ng teacher ko ('nung bata pa ako), sabi ko gusto kong maging presidente ng Pilipinas. Even if I don't really like politics.
What would you do if you won the lotto?
Hindi ko alam kasi I don't believe in lottery.
If you could share a meal with any individual living or dead, who would that person be?
I'd like to have a conversation with Jesus. I'd also like to pick the mind of President Digong.
What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
Sa business kasi ang laki ng tinataya ko, sobra. Actually this type of model is quite difficult. But I know that it could help a lot, so I do it.
What was the last book you read?
The Bible.
Which celebrity would you like to meet for a cup of coffee?
I'd like to talk to Mel Gibson, the director of the "Passion of the Christ."
What is one thing you will never do again?
Parang wala, eh.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I hope to have built a lot of facilities for the farmers. I really want it to be a success story.
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