Butuan wins Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge

MANILA, Philippines — Butuan City’s AgriBoost, an agri-ecosystem innovation that leverages on predictive data to boost farmer capacities and catalyze market forces for a sustainable, food-secure and vibrant community, was among the 15 winners in the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2021-2022 Global Mayors Challenge.

The worldwide innovation competition supports and spreads the most promising ideas of cities worldwide.

The winners were also recognized for designing the boldest and most ambitious urban innovations to emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our city is deeply honored, inspired and excited about this international recognition,” Butuan Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada said. “We feel that this once again validates AgriBoost’s status as a breakthrough innovative response to the challenges of the pandemic. We are excited about moving the project forward with the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.”

The winners were selected from among 50 cities that spent the past four months rigorously testing and refining their projects.

When the competition was launched in January last year, mayors from 631 cities in 99 countries submitted their ideas for evaluation.

The winning programs will enter a three-year implementation period with a $1-million grant and robust technical assistance.

During this time, the winning cities will work diligently to evolve and scale their idea into a real-life program to improve the lives of their residents.