UP Agribusiness Center for Entrepreneurship
UP Agribusiness Center for Entrepreneurship

The UP ACE program was established to catalyze the development of agribusiness in the countryside. It will broaden the role of UPLB in strengthening the agriculture sector and related fields through agribusiness entrepreneurship. The field of agribusiness is multi-dimensional and cuts across various disciplines or fields of study. It consists of the whole agriculture sector (including forestry and fisheries), the agro-industrial component of the industry sector and the agro-services portion of the whole service sector. Businesses that are agriculture and agro-industrial based are considered agribusinesses including those businesses in agricultural engineering, biotechnology, and food and forest products processing. Agribusiness entrepreneurship is envisioned to bring about enterprise innovations in agriculture and related fields.

The creation of the UP Agribusiness Center for Entrepreneurship (UP ACE) was proposed by the Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship (DAME). The UP Board of Regents (BOR) confirmed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between UPLB and Jose D. Drilon Memorial Foundation, Inc. (JDDMFI) for the establishment of ACE program on July 30, 1997. The UP ACE building, located at the UPLB Science and Technology Park, was constructed through the fund allocation from the Office of Senator Franklin M. Drilon. The construction was managed by DPWH in 1998. On July 26, 2011, Sen. Drilon provided an additional PhP 5 million grant which was augmented by PhP 6 million from UPLB for the completion of the building under the leadership of the College of Economics and Management Dean Dr. Isabelita M. Pabuayon. Inauguration took place on April 12, 2019 simultaneously with the contract signing of the partnership with Small Business Corporation (SB Corp) through its MSME Finance Institute.

Vision and Mission

UP ACE will accelerate the integration of small farmers in the market-driven economy and enhance the participation of small and medium-scale agro-based enterprises in the development of the country’s agribusiness sector. This is consistent with the national thrust of poverty alleviation and inclusive growth and development. The mission of UP ACE is to 1) develop a new generation of farmers and entrepreneurs, 2) strengthen the partnerships among UPLB and industry and government, and 3) promote transdisciplinarity and sustainability in key agribusiness programs.

Programs, Activities and Outputs

UP ACE, through the UPLB Agribusiness Program, aims to spearhead entrepreneurship in the agribusiness sector for accelerated economic development. The UP ACE is planned to be the hub of entrepreneurship and technopreneurship in UPLB. To achieve this, the following are the two key programs of UP ACE:

1. Agribusiness Development
2. Agribusiness Services

The UP ACE program intends to provide support to the following target beneficiaries: farmers, UPLB community (faculty, researchers, students), industry associations, local government units and other agribusiness stakeholders. The key activities that would benefit these target groups are as follows: a) Forums on entrepreneurship, b) Conferences/ seminars, c) Farmers’ forums, d) Roundtable discussions, e) Agribusiness tours, f) Training activities, g) Benchmarking research, h) Entrepreneur and enterprise studies, and i) Business mentoring.

The UP ACE program recognizes that collaboration with the industry, the UPLB Technology Transfer and Business Development Office (TTBDO), other UPLB units and colleges, and the government is important in achieving its mandate. The following key outputs could be generated through this partnership: Research papers, Academic Journal, Training manuals, Feasibility studies, Business plans, Brochures, Manual of accounting systems and procedures, Business start-ups, Technopreneurial learning projects, and Income-generating projects.