Around 300 farmers of Kabayan, Benguet benefitted from the Kadiwa Ni Ani at Kita Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) last May 14, 2020.
Aimed at ensuring the continuous and unhampered flow of essential food across the country, the DA directly linked Kabayan farmers to a private buyer from Metro Manila. They were able to sell a total of 10,000 kilograms of assorted highland vegetables such as chayote, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, Baguio beans, and cauliflower.
Packing of the said vegetables into ‘chopsuey’ packs were done by the farmers while the transport to Metro Manila was facilitated by the DA-CAR by providing three trucks of four-ton capacity each. The packed vegetables were hauled by the trucks from barangay Eddet, Kabayan to Baguio City.
Julie Felix, President of Eddet Farmers Indigenous Peoples Association (EFIPA), said that they reached out to the Department to assist them in marketing their vegetables during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).
Felix praised the department for the quick response through the DA’s Kadiwa Express link. The program did not only help them but also their co-farmers in neighboring barangays by enabling them as well to sell their vegetable produce.
“Many farmers in our municipality benefitted from this Program which allowed us to market our produce, at the same time, ensure price stability and affordability of our goods to the consuming public. Isu nga dakkel iti panagyaman mi iti gobyerno ti daytoy a programa (We are really thankful to the government for this program),” she stressed.
Prior to the May 14 transaction, the EFIPA have already made their first transaction through the Kadiwa Express on May 12, 2020. They were able to sell 2,000 kilograms of carrots and cauliflowers.
With the continuous transaction, EFIPA member Margie Felix expressed that the Program helped them earn better because the added mark ups of traders and transportation costs were reduced. She said that the program gave employment opportunities to farm laborers hired as vegetable packers.
Likewise, Vivian Akibo, another member of EDDET FIPA, noted that the Kadiwa Express is a big help in selling their vegetables. She hopes that the assistance of linking the market with farmerswill continue beyond the quarantine period.
Meanwhile, Under the DA-ACPC’s Expanded Survival and Recovery loan Program, a total of 112 farmers were qualified and finally received their loans as of May 15 through the Bashoy Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative and Tawangan ARC MPC who served as the lending conduit. This loan is primarily provided to farmers whose livelihoods were affected by the ECQ due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The loans amounted to 25,000 pesos each, no interest, no collateral, and payable within three or up to 10 years depending on the arrangements.
With the implementation of the ECQ, the Kadiwa program has been fine-tuned to serve more consumers in the urban areas and improve market linkages between consumers, farmers, and producers especially so that the Cordillera region is the top producer of highland vegetables in the country.**Rafid-CAR
