The government launched a market linkage program to stop price manipulation and ensure that food products reach consumers at affordable cost.
Under the direct market linkage program, the Department of Agriculture aims to combat price manipulation and market abuses to protect the livelihood and well-being of farmers and fisherfolk.
The DA plans to further strengthen the KADIWA program by rolling out more stores in the provinces and in cities across the country. There are now over 300 KADIWA retail stores catering to the basic food needs of Filipino consumers.
The agency started rolling out KADIWA stores in major wet and dry markets in Metro Manila early this year to ensure food availability while addressing the soaring prices of agricultural commodities.
It said the marketing initiative seeks to empower the farming community by providing a direct and effective farm-to-consumer food supply chain.
By eliminating marketing layers, the program benefits not only farmers who earn bigger income but also consumers who can afford to buy basic goods at lower prices.
KADIWA sustains its relevance by innovating and creating new platforms. The KADIWA Retail Selling provides suppliers an area to directly sell their goods to the consumers. Under this scheme, government offices, LGUs and private sector may request the DA to hold KADIWA Retail Selling activity in their own areas.
KADIWA on-Wheels is a mobile market that serves communities and/or barangays, while KADIWA Express taps the private sector and LGUs in the transport and distribution of fresh produce from Agri-Pinoy Centers to designated drop-off points in Metro Manila.
E-Kadiwa is an online marketing platform that connects producers and agri-preneurs to consumers. The platform allows sellers to retail agricultural produce, including vegetables, rice and fruits at suggested retail prices.
Climate-resistant
To roll out sufficient and better quality produce, the DA seeks to mainstream climate resiliency in agriculture.
Climate change is affecting agriculture in different ways not only on crops production but also fisheries output.
“This is a day-in, day-out concern. Climate change is another factor that affects production, but this something we cannot control,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Mercy Sombilla.
“What we can do is adopt some adaptation practices to be able to respond to, and recover, from these disasters,” she said.
Earlier in 2023, the Philippines received a funding assistance from the Green Climate Fund for its proposal “Adapting Philippine Agriculture to Climate Change”.
The program is a $39.2-million, seven-year initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Green Climate Fund and the Philippine government to boost the resilience of climate-vulnerable rural smallholder farmers.
According to FAO, the project plays a key role in advancing the country’s transition towards more sustainable, resilient and inclusive agri-food systems.
The initiative benefits 1.25 million farmers by raising their awareness on climate risks and risk-reduction measures, building their capacity to develop enterprises and access finance and related technologies and adopting climate-resilient agriculture practices.
The collaboration supports the most vulnerable farmers, including women, youth and indigenous communities by providing them with access to targeted climate information and technical services for climate resilient agriculture.
Challenges
By assisting smallholder farmers in overcoming obstacles related to inputs and market access, and building their capacity to develop and implement CRA investment plans, the project enables a sustainable shift to crucial agricultural practices, thereby improving food security, household incomes and resilience.
Sombilla said there are many challenges the sector faces including low productivity, which is a result of soil degradation and low quality of planting materials, particularly seeds.
Another is the management of agricultural production and weak value chain. The weak linkage to the manufacturing and export sectors prevents the sector from realizing its potential for export.
“In the recent pronouncement of our President, he mentioned two things—weak value chain in agriculture and weak linkages with the manufacturing and export sector. In order to address this, we have to strengthen the institutions and to put in place the needed market reforms that would support the agricultural sector to grow,” Sombilla said.
Addressing the challenges is a holistic development plan for the agricultural sector contained in the National Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization and Industrialization Plan 2021 to 2030.
NAFMIP aims to transform the agriculture and fisheries sector into a modern and responsive component of Philippine economy and society. Its goal is transformation toward a food-and-nutrition- secure, resilient Philippines with empowered and prosperous farmers and fisherfolk by 2030.
