President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is exploring ways to cut out the middlemen in the supply chain to allow farmers to earn more, Malacañang said on Thursday.
The Presidential Communications Office said the President, as concurrent Agriculture Secretary, asked the Department of Agriculture to directly link food producers to consumers and institutional buyers.
In response, the DA enhanced its market linkage initiative to assist farmers’ cooperatives and associations across the country, the PCO said.
“Under the initiative, spearheaded by the department’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, about P2.589 million worth of onions have been sold by the FCAs to institutional buyers from September 2022 to 24 January 2023. They are composed of 3,478 kilograms of red onions worth P755,455 and 5,106.38 kilograms of white onions worth P1.833 million,” PCO reported.
The DA-awarded Kadiwa trucks and vans also helped the FCAs with their hauling and delivery to markets and big buyers.
The Agriculture Department also provided the farmers with assistance and training sessions in farm clustering and consolidation, where market-driven production and focus on supplying institutional buyers are applied to help farmers earn better with higher volume.
Last year, the President announced he is determined to transform the Kadiwa project into a national program to provide the public access to more affordable and high-quality fresh goods.
The Kadiwa program also seeks to provide a market to local farmers, fishermen, and small business enterprises.
For the President, market-driven production and farmers’ access to capital and available storage facilities will also be a big boost to the agriculture sector.
Based on the 2022 year-end report of the DA, the Kadiwa stores across the country generated P418 million in sales.
The 19,383 Kadiwa stores have served 1.22 million household consumers and benefitted 450 farmer cooperatives and associations and agri-fishery enterprises nationwide.