The Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program of the Department of Agriculture is helping more vegetable farmers from the Cordillera sell their produce and earn income amid the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) being enforced throughout Luzon.
Kadiwa is loosely translated as “one idea, one thought” among stakeholders, which is in consonance with the “new thinking” for agriculture paradigm of Sec. William Dar, who launched the program September last year.
As flagship agri-fishery marketing program, the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita sells major agricultural goods at reasonably low prices to help poor Filipino households.
With the implementation of the ECQ, the program has since been fine-tuned to serve more consumers in urban areas and improve market linkages between them and farmer-producers.
The Kadiwa program is using strategies to sell farm products direct to consumers like the Kadiwa on Wheels Mobile Market and Kadiwa Express that allow people to access food while under the ECQ.
Since March 17, around 7,000 vegetable farmers from the Cordillera were assisted and benefited under the program, according to the DA Cordillera.
Jerry N. Damoyan, chief of the DA-CAR Agribusiness Marketing Assistance Division, said farmers earned more since the mark-up price that should have been added by traders to the costs of goods went to them.
On the other hand, “consumers greatly benefitted by the lower price of the fresh and good vegetables that were brought directly to the community,” Damoyan added.
Meanwhile, DA-CAR’s activities under the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program has already linked a total of 389.92 metric tons of assorted vegetables worth P12,203,600 involving 50 buyers composed of 45 private groups mostly from the National Capital Region and five local government units from Bulacan and Pangasinan.
The Kadiwa on Wheels also catered to 11 barangays in Baguio City and Tuba and Kapangan in Benguet where a total of 6,290 kilos of assorted vegetables worth P207,200 were sold.
The DA-CAR also maintains the delivery of vegetables to the Agricultural Training Institute Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita in Quezon City and for their Kadiwa on Wheels activities.
DA Regional Executive Director Cameron P. Odsey said the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program provides farmers and consumers an opportunity to benefit from vegetable production and marketing in a manner where all key players win.
He said the program will be a continuous activity even after the ECQ period to support farmers and consumers.
The DA also continues to issue food passes to ensure unhampered movement of essential food and non-food agri fisheries, provide agriculture-related transportation system, and market linkages for farmers in relation to its Plant! Plant! Plant! program. – DA-CAR release
