Kadiwa' in DA-CAR brings cheap, quality food to villages

KADIWA MARKET. The 'Kadiwa ng Pangulo' at the Bureau of Plant and Industry compound in Baguio City provides a market for the agricultural produce of small farmers in Baguio and Benguet province. Dr. Aida Pagtan, chief of the Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Service (RAFIS), bares Tuesday (Oct. 3, 2023) that the mobile Kadiwa has been providing local farmers access to the public, which also benefits from the affordable fresh produce on sale. (PNA photo by Liza Agoot)

By Liza Agoot 

BAGUIO CITY – The "Kadiwa ng Pangulo" organized by the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) is hitting two birds with one stone – giving a market for small farmers in this city and Benguet province while providing affordable and quality food to nearby communities. 
    "We placed this near the gate so that it becomes accessible to the residents in the area and the employees in offices and companies located nearby," said Dr.  Aida Pagtan, the Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Service (RAFIS) chief, in an interview Tuesday.
    Pagtan was referring to the BPI compound where the DA-CAR is headquartered. It accommodates around 600 employees from various offices, units, divisions, and special programs, who are avid buyers of the farmers' produce.
Pagtan said the concept of the mobile Kadiwa where the DA bridges farmers' produce to the market to undercut middlemen is also being adopted by the Kadiwa sa BPI (Bureau of Plant Industry).
    Pagtan said the Kadiwa is used by small farmers for free, therefore eliminating the cost of the rent of selling spaces that are usually added to the prices of commodities.  
    "Their prices are quite low and beneficial to the buyers, especially now with prices of commodities being high," she said.  
Sold are highland and lowland vegetables, fruits, root crops, meat, eggs, fresh and dried fish, and processed food products, including rice.  
    "These are products of farmers in Baguio and Benguet who are assisted by the DA through the AMaD (Agricultural Marketing Division)," Pagtan said. -- PNA

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