BAGUIO CITY – To harmonize local production schedules with supply chain activities, 125 participants of the Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Council and representatives of the civil society organizations (CSOs) attended a two-day conference in Baguio City that aims to foster partnership in policy advocacy and promote innovations that advance sustainable agriculture and fisheries in the region.
Department of Agriculture Cordillera (DA-CAR) Regional Executive Director Atty. Jennilyn Dawayan explained that the activity initiated by DA-CAR’s Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PMED) provides an opportunity for farmers cooperatives and associations (FCAs) and CSOs to develop a regional agriculture logistics system that will streamline transport and distribution process, reducing costs from production areas to consumption points among other benefits.
“We want to determine through this conference the supply or production of various agricultural products by our farmers in the region that will be gathered by the AFCs and relayed to the regional department giving us real-time data. This will enable us to better assist our farmers in identifying marketing opportunities and linkage prospects, the department is currently implementing the identification of FCAs that will undergo clustering and consolidation to scale up their production,” Dawayan said.
Under clustering and consolidation, farmers and their respective cooperatives and associations will collectivize and come together to optimize the interventions and assistance provided by the DA and other government agencies making these efforts more cost-efficient and effective.
Aside from the regular technical and marketing assistance under the major commodity programs, clustered and consolidated farms will receive incentives in the form of farm machinery such as tractors, harvesters, mechanical dryers, processing equipment, and related infrastructure.
“We encourage our farmers to scale up by clustering and consolidating their farms to attain economies of scale, this will help reduce the cost of operations, attain bountiful harvests, and increase income. The clustering and consolidation strategy of farmers is one of the bases of the department in providing interventions,” the Regional Executive Director stated.
The participants were presented with a briefing on the department’s thrusts and strategic agenda, the state of agriculture in the Cordillera, the registration requirements and responsibilities of being registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and basic services and taxation overview related to the agri-fisheries sectors and associations.
They were also introduced to supply mapping strategies and the role of CSOs in the supply chain, mapping the supply chain from farm to market, collaborative supply mapping, and formulating policy recommendations to address bottlenecks in the supply chain were also conducted in the said conference.
“We are optimistic that through this conference, our FCAs and CSOs will continue to focus and maximize the opportunities available under the clustering and consolidation strategy of the DA. The policies they develop will strengthen these civil society organizations by focusing on a business-to-business approach and strategy in agriculture development,” said DA-CAR PMED Division Chief Susan Balanza. By JTLlanes