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.
The Kadiwa is one of the main programs of the Department of Agriculture under the Agribusiness and Marketing Service, facilitating market linkage of agri producers to consumers including institutional buyers.
The program also minimize layers of traders making fresh produce affordable. Through the Enhanced Kadiwa Financial Grant, the cooperatives are also capacitated to take on more roles in the food supply chain, thus increasing their income.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kadiwa has facilitated sales of agri commodities amounting to Php6.5B with an estimated of 1,969,257 household served in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The market facilitation was through the different modalities of Kadiwa which includes Kadiwa on Wheels, Kadiwa Retail Selling, Kadiwa Express and Kadiwa Online.
An estimated of 23,294 individual farmers/fishers and 4,453 Agri-Fishery Cooperatives benefitted from this program.
According to Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar, Enhanced Kadiwa Market Logistics Financial Grant Program 2 is also part of the stimulus package proposed by the department. Helping farmers and fisherfolk through programs that strengthen cooperatives is one of the thrusts of the Department of Agriculture.
Recognizing the role of cooperatives, Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go assured that he will look into market development assistance for agricultural cooperatives.
“Cooperatives have become an important force in countryside development and nation-building. Not only have they contributed to the development of the sectors they represent but they have also encouraged the empowerment of their respective stakeholders and communities,” Go said. (DA-AMAS)