DA develops vegetable supply chains

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has adopted measures to develop supply chains to deliver vegetables to the market at less cost to the consumers while providing more profit for the farmers.

"We are completing the chain for you," said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap in a live feed from Cebu to Tagaytay where vegetable farmers met in the 5th National Vegetable Congress earlier this month. He was in Cebu for the Philippine Development Forum where he presented to international donors a number of critical, priority infrastructure projects for funding to accelerate development in the agriculture sector.

Access to markets is one of the pressing issues in the vegetable supply chain identified by the vegetable stakeholders in a series of consultations conducted by the Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Regoverning Markets Program and the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) through its local affiliate, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF). The Regoverning Markets Program is a global initiative in research and policy support designed to help small farmers link to modern markets such as supermarkets and fastfood outlets.

"We are opening retail points for you," Yap said, adding that there will be improved access to retail outlets including SM and Shopwise. He also mentioned several projects to address issues in the vegetable chain from production to marketing. These include among others, additional tramlines, major road projects, agribusiness centers and refrigeration system. Majority of these issues where discussed in the consultations conducted in Baguio, Cebu, Manila and Davao.

The Regoverning Markets Program is happy to note that these issues are being addressed jointly by the government and the private sector, said Dr. Larry Digal, the program coordinator in Southeast Asia. The successful innovation of the NorminVeggies case in Cagayan de Oro was presented in the vegetable consultations early this month to feed into policy dialogues and develop a venue for learning platforms among players in the chain. This study on the NorminVeggies was funded by the Regoverning Markets Program which highlighted lessons learned, best practice and innovations in linking small farmers to dynamic markets. "These research findings will be translated into actual market linkage projects that will benefit small vegetable farmers," said Raul Montemayor, IFAP vice-president and FFF national manager.