Devt body vows food sufficiency in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY: The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has crafted a supply-and- demand system that would ensure food sufficiency in Mindanao.

The Mindanao Food or “MinFood” program aims to create a self-sustaining supply-and-demand chain given the realities brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

MinDA Chairman Emmanuel Piñol said MinFood would also include the establishment of a food positioning system for the Mindanao provinces.

Piñol added that he had already directed the crafting of the Mindanao food supply and demand map indicating the products each province produces in excess and where these were needed.

Some private and business sectors that support the program would provide logistical support in repositioning the food supplies in areas where these are in short supply, he said.

Piñol cited Bukidnon’s vegetables as an example where its produce could be brought to Zamboanga del

Norte or Surigao del Norte.

At the same time, sea products from these fishing provinces could be repositioned in Bukidnon and Cotabato.

Davao City- based Eng Seng Food Products and Don Bosco Multipurpose Cooperative, a pioneer in organic farming, have agreed to collaborate in marketing black, red and brown organic rice produced by farmers in Mindanao.

“Eng Seng President John Tan said his company would buy organic rice produced by farmers who belong to the Mindanao Organic Rice Council, an organization initiated by the MinDA, at P25 per kilo,” Piñol said in a statement.

Don Bosco will process and pack the products while Eng Seng will market it with the support of the MinDA.

“This will ensure that organic rice farmers have a ready market for their produce as well as encourage others to shift to organic rice farming,” Pinol said.

RUTH PALO