Surigao del Sur, Philippines - The local government unit (LGU) of Carmen in Surigao del Sur has received a PHP 3.8 million grant aimed at enhancing the production and marketing of farm products in the municipality.
According to Philippines News Agency, Marissa Garces, Department of Agriculture-Caraga Region (DA-13) supervising agriculturist, stated that the grant, which was released under DA's Enhanced Kadiwa Financial Grant Assistant Program, will be utilized to purchase two vehicles for transporting farm and livestock products. This initiative, released on Monday, is expected to accelerate the delivery of these products to market centers.
The Carmen LGU is responsible for identifying farmers' cooperatives and associations in the town to manage the delivery of farm products to local markets. Garces mentioned that this program is designed to ensure that farm products, including fruits, vegetables, and livestock, are of good quality, safe, and affordable for consumers.
As part of its contribution, the Carmen LGU will identify a cooperative that will act as a consolidator of all farm products from local farmers. This consolidator-cooperative will then handle the marketing of these products at reasonable and affordable prices in various markets within the town. The Kadiwa Program's core concept is to balance reasonable pricing for farmers while ensuring the public access to high-quality and affordable agricultural products.