Animal Kingdom Foundation signs MOA with Benguet State University

MANILA, Philippines — The Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) forged a memorandum of agreement with the Benguet State University (BSU) through the College of Agriculture Department of Animal Science (CA-DAS) and the University of Business Affairs (UBA).

This joint initiative with the state university is aimed to enable cage-free egg production in the region, thus opening an opportunity and access for cage-free egg availability in the future.

Both AKF and the BSU have committed themselves to establishing a research and demonstration farm for cage-free chickens at the Department of Animal Science laboratory farm.

“This partnership will build the first cage-free farm in the University. BSU shall be the country's first educational institution to have a true cage-free farm setup," Atty. Heidi Caguioa, AKF’s program director and proponent of the Cage-Free Movement in the Philippines, said.

Both AKF and BSU will work alongside to bring the farm to fruition. AKF will provide the expertise on cage-free production and the needed resources to build the farm. The UBA shall facilitate the management of the farm and CA-DAS will explore opportunities for research to on hen welfare.

As Dr. Felipe Comila, BSU’s president shared, “This is timely as BSU moves to a higher production but at the same time taking into consideration the welfare of animals and the environment.“

He further said that we must “harmonize our connection with animals,” as he further said that animals produce food for us in his closing statement.

This signing of the MOA came as a result that only started from a learning session about the hen welfare of AKF at BSU’s CA students through AKF’s campus tour seminars entitled Word From Hens in 2023. The discussions sparked an interest in how the university can adopt cage-free practices and eventually adopt this more humane and sustainable production.

On the other hand, the joint initiative shall also act as a model farm for soon-to-be cage-free egg producers in the region. As one of the model farm’s functions, it may provide technical support to the farmers.

It will also serve as a hub for people ranging from egg producers to procurement officers to gain firsthand