DA helps farmers sell goods directly to Filipino soldiers
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has expanded its f lagship Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita distribution program to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) headquarters in keeping with its goal of linking Filipino farmers to more markets.
The DA in partnership with the AFP launched the Kadiwa at the Soldiers’ Mall in Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo last July 11.
The direct marketing joint project would be replicated in all AFP camps nationwide to provide farmers with available markets while offering cheaper food to the armed forces community, according to the DA.
“The DA’S Kadiwa Program, which started in August 2019, establishes the link between production and the market and ensures that the producers get the right price for their produce, while the consuming public also gets a fair and affordable price. It’s a win-win arrangement,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.
The DA said the Kadiwa at AFP market would be held twice a month, coinciding with the armed forces’ payday. This, the DA added, would also ensure that the armed forces community would have easy and affordable access to nutritious food.
“The opening of the Kadiwa project is timely and indeed pertinent to one of the most urgent needs of our citizens,” AFP Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Antonio Ramon Lim said.
“It does not only amplify the capabilities of our troops in maintaining a sustainable source of fresh food inside Camp Aguinaldo, but more importantly our farmer producers whose livelihoods have been immensely affected as a result of the community quarantine measures implemented in the past few months.”
Earlier this year, the DA and the AFP forged a collaboration for the department’s urban agriculture program, wherein soldiers in Camp Aguinaldo received planting starter kits to boost food production in Metro Manila.
The DA said the Kadiwa at AFP is the latest iteration of its banner market linkage program, following earlier modalities such as Kadiwa on wheels, direct retail, e-kadiwa and Farmers’ Produce.
“As of today, Kadiwa has a total sale of P6 billion. So talagang nakikinabang ang farmers at nakikinabang din ang ating consuming public [both the the farms and the consumic benefited from the program],” Dar said.
“We hope that as we fight this pandemic forward, we will continue to produce enough food for the country and see to it that these food supplies reach the consuming public.”