Two hundred farmers from Luzon have successfully completed a 14-week training on modern farming techniques under the SM Foundation’s Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) Farming program.
The graduates include 100 farmers from Quirino, Isabela and another 100 from Guagua and Santa Rita in Pampanga. The program, led by the Foundation in collaboration with various social good partners, aims to equip farmers with practical skills in farming.
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,” opened Gloria Cabarios Diampoc, one of the farmer-graduates.
“That’s exactly what the SM Foundation did for us,” she said. “Instead of handing us food for a day, they taught us modern ways of farming so that our families will have food every day.”
Throughout the training, the farmers learned organic farming methods, basic financial and business management, marketing strategies, and even life principles of SM Group founder, Henry Sy Sr.
“This program gave us a fresh perspective—not just about farming, but about our own potential,” Diampoc shared.
“It showed us that even small spaces can be productive. We can plant, harvest, and sell at fair prices. KSK isn’t just training—it’s a journey of transformation for ourselves, our families, and our entire community,” she said. “We carry with us a renewed sense of hope, knowledge, and confidence to start new livelihoods and inspire change in our hometowns.”
Since its inception, the KSK program has trained over 30,000 farmers, many of whom have since become suppliers to the SM Group, local markets, and the SM Weekend Market.
The training was supported by SM Markets, SM Supermalls, and other partners from the public and private sector—including the DA, DSWD, DOLE, DTI, Department of Science and DOST, and local government units.
