PLDT's wireless subsidiary Smart Communications won the Social Contribution Award at the 2021 Asia Communication Awards (ACA 2021) for its FarmSmart agriculture advocacy. The initiative covers the Digital Farmers Program (DFP) and BuyLocal, which aim to help create future-ready and prosperous Filipino farmers through technology, innovation, and collaboration.

With partners from the country’s Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI), social enterprise Cropital, and other companies headed by PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, FarmSmart projects have benefitted over 7,500 farmers and agriculture workers to-date.

Increasing livelihood opportunities through ICT training
DFP is a digital literacy training program that aims to increase the livelihood opportunities of smallholder farmers through Information and Communications Technologies. By capacitating farmers on how to use various mobile tools, Smart aims to help improve the competitiveness of farmers and provide them greater access to market.

Despite the pandemic and more so because of it, the DFP trainings continued and expanded to reach more farmers by making available it an online course for asynchronous learning, serving as model for similar digital literacy programs.

Through its partnerships with the DA-ATI, various local government units, and other groups, more than 3,500 farmers, youth, and other stakeholders are now more familiar with digital technologies, including e-commerce and e-finance platforms.

Innovative farm-to-market initiative
An offshoot of DFP, Smart’s BuyLocal is a simple but innovative farm-to-market initiative that directly supports farmers by providing them sure market and access to affordable capital.

Through technology, innovations, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, Smart’s BuyLocal helped over 4,200 rice and vegetable farmers from 14 farming communities, generated PHP 8M in gross sales, raised more than PHP330,000 in sustainability fund to support 72 farmers, donated 18 MT of rice, and raised an additional 56 MT rice donations from consumers.

Group-wide citations
Aside from FarmSmart’s ACA 2021 win, PLDT was also recognized under the award-giving body’s Operator of the Year category for delivering the best customer experience amid accelerated data traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Corporate business unit PLDT Enterprise was also nominated for its Smart Tracker Medical Frontliners Transportation Solution, while subsidiary PLDT Global was shortlisted for the Innovation Award-Operator for its mobile application Free Bee and for continuously improving PLDT’s international voice services.

Launched in 2011 by London-based industry publication Total Telecom, the Asia Communication Awards recognizes Asia's leading communication service providers and telecom operators.