If there’s a government project that really benefits consumers at this time of high inflation, it’s the Kadiwa ng Pangulo. This project replicates the original one launched during the first Marcos administration.
This year alone, according to Director Junibert de Sagun of the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service of the Department of Agriculture, five Kadiwa outlets posted an estimated P5.3 million in total sales.
These outlets are at the TUCP office in Quezon City; Limay, Bataan; Batangas; Camarines Sur; and Cebu.
The main idea behind the Kadiwa, the DA official said, is to establish a direct market linkage between the producers and the consumers.
What the Kadiwa does is to reduce the trading layers so that what would otherwise go to traders and middlemen goes to farmers instead, with consumers benefiting from lower prices.
With the help of local government units, sellers at all of the Kadiwa sites do not pay a fee for the stalls they put up in various areas.
The work of the DA is very challenging, de Sagun said, because they have to strike a balance between serving the farmers and fisherfolk and delivering the goods to consumers.
The Kadiwa outlets sell only rice produced by farmers rather than cheap imported rice now being sold in public markets.
The DA official appealed to the public and partners to support locally-made products. By buying Filipino, we help our farmers and fisherfolk increase their income.
The Kadiwa ng Pangulo brings together the Office of the President, five departments—Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Social Welfare and Development, Labor and Employment, and Interior and Local Government—as well as different LGUs.
The task now is to widen the coverage of the Kadiwa outlets nationwide.
With more Kadiwa outlets, the government seeks to improve agricultural productivity, reduce the country’ reliance on importations, and stabilize the prices of basic goods.
Since its launch last year, the Kadiwa program earned more than P400 million, based on government figures. The administration has so far launched more than 500 Kadiwa ng Pangulo outlets nationwide.
The continuing expansion of the Kadiwa outlets nationwide aims to give a platform for Filipino farmers, fisherfolk and micro, small and medium enterprises to enable them to generate more income through direct farm-to-consumer trade.
President Marcos has pointed out the only way to keep Kadiwa outlets operational is to boost the production of local farmers and thus provide consumers with cheap basic goods amid rising.
But this would also entail transforming agriculture into “a high-tech operation” with the appropriate strategies and techniques to increase production.
Can that be done within the next five years? We really hope so.