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The Department of Agriculture (DA) is setting up 22 more barangay food terminals by July to supplement the 12 existing BFTs it has already set up in urban poor communities across Metro Manila.

The BFTs are part of the government’s effort to expand the poor’s access to cheaper foodstuff.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the 12 existing BFTs — located in Quezon City, Manila, Taguig, Pasay and San Jose del Monte in Bulacan —  are benefiting more than 150,000 poor families who now have access to basic food items like rice, fish and meat at 10 percent lower than those retailed at regular outlets.

The BFT program was conceptualized and initiated by Yap on orders of President Arroyo to directly link farm producers in the countryside to small wet markets in urban centers.

The linkage eliminates unnecessary trading layers that unduly jack up prices of agricultural produce and cuts profits for small farmers and fisherfolk.

This program, which also involves the provision of special routes as food lanes and the use of cold storage facilities in strategic locations to preserve perishable farm produce, is being implemented by the DA in tandem with local government units. 

Yap said that before the end of May, seven more BFTs will be operational in Metro Manila.

Three BFTs would be opened by June 30 in San Fernando, La Union.

One BFT each would be opened  in Eastern Samar, Biliran and Southern Leyte; and three each in Cebu   City and Zamboanga City.

Other regions are still in the process of identifying potential sites for BFTs.

By July, four more BFTs would  be operational in the First Cavite Industrial Estate, Cavite Export Processing Zone, Clark Special Economic Zone, and Laguna Techno Park , Yap said.

Succeeding BFT projects would  also be carried out in Pasig, Marikina, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Pateros and Muntinlupa as well as in Cebu, Davao, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Cotabato, and Cagayan de Oro, Yap said.

To widen the scope of the barangay-level trading program, BFTs are also being planned in resettlement areas and military camps, Yap said.

He said  “efforts to increase production of farm and fishery products will be for naught if food prices remain high and unaffordable, and farmers and fisherfolk  are not earning enough.”