Committed to improve the lives of Farmer/fisherfolk Cooperatives and Associations or FCAs, the Department of Agriculture developed a new program to assist cooperatives through a financial grant.

The program entitled Enhanced Kadiwa Financial Grant aims to give cooperatives additional capital to be able to purchase supplies and equipment that will help them sell their produce directly to consumers. This may include vegetables crates, packing equipment, delivery truck and revolving fund as assemblers or consolidators of fresh produce.

DILIMAN, Quezon City—Amid the global pandemic, more households in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are set to join the move towards a food-sufficient country as the Department of Agriculture (DA) has partnered with four non-government organizations (NGO) in promoting urban agriculture in the Philippines.

MVM Message Movements Media, Inc., Project Pearls, AGREA, and Metro Pacific Investment Foundation are the newest addition to the expanding communities and network of the urban agriculture initiative, under the Department’s “Plant, Plant, Plant” program.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is allotting PHP 400 million under the “Bayanihan to Recover As One Act” or “Bayanihan 2” to further expand the Duterte administration’s urban agriculture program and attain family household food security.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for recently signing “Bayanihan 2” that earmarks an additional fund of PHP 24 billion for the DA to bankroll several initiatives to help perk up the national economy.

As part of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) food safety regulatory system, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) continues to increase awareness and build capacities for the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in the country.

In the Virtual Training-Workshop on GAP for Emerging Agricultural Commodities Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, the Institute furthered the campaign on GAP adoption as means to improve food systems and supply and towards ensuring people’s health and wellbeing.

Aware of the agriculture sector’s role in the government’s economic recovery efforts, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will continue implementing much-needed interventions to match the scale of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the DA will vigorously pursue comprehensive, science-based, inclusive and innovative programs to build efficient and resilient food production and distribution systems to adequately feed the country’s growing population, now and in the future.

By Secretary William D. Dar, Department of Agriculture

1. It is my distinct honor and privilege to virtually join you today as we launch the World Bank’s “Transforming Philippine Agriculture: During COVID-19 and Beyond.”