Agriculture Secretary William Dar continues to encourage local chief executives (LCEs) to buy from farmers and fishers their products — vegetables, fruits, chicken, hogs, and fish, among others — and include these in relief food packs distributed to constituents.

“By doing so, we help our farmers and fishers earn and make a decent living amid the challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Secretary Dar, who previously asked the LCEs to consider the said initiative in mid-March, when President Rodrigo Duterte imposed the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

With the pressing demand to boost food production, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) are joining efforts to conduct more trainings to further enhance the skills and know-how of farmers and farmworkers under the “new normal” era in agricultural production, and food value chain.

Baguio City -- The Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita is helping more vegetable farmers from the Cordillera sell their produce and earn income amid the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) being enforced throughout Luzon.

Since March 17, around 7,000 vegetable farmers from the Cordillera were assisted and benefited with the implementation of the “Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita” program, according to the DA-CAR.

Given the 'new normal' scenario, the Department of Agriculture (DA) from hereon will partner strongly with the private sector, particularly with agribusiness conglomerates like San Miguel Corporation (SMC) that committed to buy various products from farmers and fishers to ensure the steady supply of adequate, accessible and affordable food for consumers in Metro Manila and other urban centers nationwide.

Several companies and institutional buyers are now partnering with the Department of Agriculture (DA), particularly in its ‘Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita’ marketing program, where farm products are bought on a wholesale basis from farmers and retailed to consumers on affordable prices in Metro Manila and other urban areas nationwide.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar cited that Agri Nurture, Inc. (ANI) has expressed the intention to buy more quantities of farmers’ harvests on a regular basis.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) launched a joint market intervention called the ‘Kadiwa Diskwento Karavan,’ serving hundreds of families at Greenheights Gym, in Barangay Nangka, Marikina City, on April 21, 2020.