President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to set up more Kadiwa centers across the country to help local agricultural producers boost their income by eliminating middlemen and enable the consumers to buy their needs at affordable prices.
The President made the pledge in an interview with broadcaster and former Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo on Monday.
“What we’re doing at Kadiwa (is) we’re really multiplying that. What is happening is that we really need to watch the supply of agricultural commodities because we take everything when they are cheap, we pass through Kadiwa. Eh, very popular with people, of course and the price is really better than other places,” the Chief Executive said.
While the goal is to reduce the price of rice to P20 per kilo, Marcos said the government has stepped up efforts to improve the supply chain efficiency and make food and other essential commodities affordable, especially in the provinces.
“Our arrangement with the Department of Agriculture (DA) is not over yet.
But, slowly we know what we need to do. We already know where the system is strong, where the system is relatively weak, where we can really… really need help, that’s what we’re looking at now,” Marcos said.
“So maybe the PHP20, maybe down the road we can reach that. But more important than…’those specific products is that Kadiwa reaches many places,” he added.
The President also said the long-term plan is to lower prices of goods not just by expanding the ‘Kadiwa ng Pangulo’ program across the country,but also by making the goods affordable in local markets.
“Because sometimes we forget, we always think about increasing the production. It is also necessary, I said, not to forget that the farmer earns a good income. That’s why we do this so that the farmers have a good job,” the President said.
“So, we are slowly improving and hopefully… the time will come when we are not only in Kadiwa feeling low prices but in all the markets, because we have a lot of supply, we have a lot production. We no longer rely on imports alone,” Marcos said.
Kadiwa is a market linkage facilitation program of the DA aimed at making products such as rice, fish, poultry and other live stocks, fruits, vegetables, and other basic commodities accessible and affordable for the poor.
Kadiwa centers, now numbering 300 nationwide, also seek to establish an additional market for small farmers and fishermen to sell their products and increase their income, as well as ensure a stable price and supply of food and other basic commodities in areas where poor families live.
Initially launched as Kadiwa ng Pasko, the program was rebranded as the Kadiwa ng Pangulo, with the first outlet launched last February 27 in Cebu City.