AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Friday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will allocate an additional P1 billion for the development of more cold storage facilities nationwide, in support of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program, especially for farmers planting high-value crops.
“We are currently assessing prices, but we anticipate constructing numerous [cold storage] facilities, assuming an average cost of P10 million each,” Tiu Laurel told reporters.
A comprehensive cold storage system will reduce food waste and ensure efficient distribution, the agri chief explained, adding there are plans to build large-scale plants in Mindoro and the Cordillera Administrative Region as part of developing a larger food distribution network.
The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Agribusiness Marketing Assistance Service has partnered with a number of farmer and fisherfolk cooperatives to establish Kadiwa outlets across the country.
This is to expand the scope of the Kadiwa program, which offers rice and other basic food items to the public at low prices.
Tiu Laurel said, “We are not going to establish Kadiwa just for selling, but also include a regional preservation and cold storage to create a buffer stock.”
The plan likewise calls for deploying trucks to transport the products to and from the storage. The system will operate like a food train, facilitating the movement of goods to bring down costs, Tiu Laurel said.
Asked whether Kadiwa will totally eliminate middlemen, Tiu Laurel did not give a straight answer, acknowledging the role of agents in marketing agricultural products, but emphasizing the need to streamline processes.
The overall aim of Kadiwa ng Pangulo, Tiu Laurel said, is to reduce layers in the system to ensure fair pricing for consumers and better earnings for farmers.
The government, he added, also plans to establish food terminals nationwide to facilitate direct sales from producers to markets.
The idea for Kadiwa stores was originally part of a response of then-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to the oil crisis of 1973, when prices of food and other commodities soared. On April 14, 1980, the first Kadiwa Center opened at the Food Terminal Inc. complex in Bicutan, Taguig.
