Davao Food Terminal set to start during Kadayawan

SMALL-SCALE fruit and vegetable farmers will be given more opportunities to sell their harvests as the Davao Food Terminal is targeted to be opened and to start operations during the Kadayawan Festival.

With the help of the Federation of Farmers Cooperative in Davao City (FFCDC), the Davao Food Terminal in Toril, Davao City may serve as ‘bagsakan’ of smallscale fruit and vegetable farmers for their bulk of harvests which FFCDC will connect with potential buyers all over the city.

The fruit and vegetable farmers who will bring their harvests to the Food Terminal are ideally members of FFCDC. City Agriculture’s Office (CAO) head Leo Brian Leuterio said there are currently 50 individual and farmer associations under FFCDC.

“The farmers will not really display their products here. This is a ‘bagsakan’ area. They just bring it there. So since we have the cooperative, they will buy the products at a much better price than gate price. So they wouldn’t need to display their products. Once they arrive there with their harvests, the cooperative will buy it,” said Leuterio.

As the Davao Food Terminal will be a venue for wholesale purchase of agricultural products, there will be a minimum purchase requirement of three kilograms per product.

Leuterio said they are just now finalizing finishing touches in the building before it can be opened to the public such as documents that will issue turn-over of the building as well as the landscaping details of the yard.

The Davao Food Terminal has a proposed total budget of P1.086 billion. This amount has been endorsed by the National Economic and Development Authority – Investment Coordination Committee (NedaICC) last March to the Neda board for final approval.

“The Davao Food Complex will help improve the importing and exporting of agrobusiness products in Mindanao, particularly the Davao Region. The project will focus on the development, marketing, management, and lease of a 20-hectare government-owned land in Toril, Davao City,” Neda said in an earlier statement.