To ensure that more consumers are able to buy cheaper food items– particularly veggies– and that farmers have a ready market for their produce– the Department of Agriculture is adding 71 more Kadiwa stores by the end of December.
DA Assistant Secretary Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra for Consumer and Legislative Affairs said the additional Kadia ng Pangulo (KNP) stores will be geared toward major cities outside of Metro Manila.
She noted that there are 108 existing KNP centers nationwide, which they aim to increase to 179 by December and 300 by mid-2025 with the ultimate goal of reaching 1,500 KNP centers by the end of the administration in 2028, Business Mirror reported.
She said on instruction of the President, the DA must make it more accessible and strengthen its Kadiwa operations so more people can buy food products at lower than prevailing market prices.
She explained that prices of some agricultural commodities tend to spike after the onslaught of typhoons due to problems with supply.
With the Yuletide just around the corner, prices will again spiral upward because of heavy demand and short supply from the damage wrought by the typhoons.
She said the expansion of KNP centers can be done partnerships with other government agencies, such as the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) and National Housing Authority (NHA) which offer venues that can be converted into KNPs.
She said they are eyeing the Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) as their major partner in reaching the target 1,500 expansion of KNP centers.
Philpost has offices near municipal centers and near population centers and it has trucks that can be used to bring the goods to the Kadiwa stores.
“Logistics- wise, Philpost is in the best position to help us be able to transport all these goods in various areas in the country,” Velicaria-Guevarra added.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said KNP is part of President Marcos Jr.’s vision of a food-secure Philippines under the Masaganang Bagong Pilipinas, “where ideally every Filipino family has food on their table and farmers and fishermen earn decent returns for their labor.”
The DA will begin the three-day Kadiwa ng Pangulo Expo 2024 on Tuesday at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) which is open to the public from November 26 to 28, 2024.
The KNP Expo, which is set to showcase over 100 farmer exhibitors, will unveil variations of Kadiwa models, including Kadiwa food hubs, centers, stores, model trucks, carts, and the Kadiwa App, each designed to streamline the delivery of fresh produce from farm to market.
Photo: DA
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