Manila: The National Anti-Poverty Commission-Cooperatives Sectoral Council (NAPC-CSC) convened with vegetable farmers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) on Monday to discuss crop yield and risk assessment alongside the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). This meeting aimed to address the ongoing issue of crop dumping that has been financially detrimental to local farmers.
According to Philippines News Agency, this initiative emerged from a consensus reached during the Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting on the Food Conservation Program (FCP) held on July 16. The primary goal was to gather essential data to identify the root causes of vegetable dumping, a persistent challenge leading to significant financial losses for farmers in the region.
During the consultation session, Cordillera vegetable growers highlighted several factors contributing to food wastage and crop dumping. These included low trader pricing, absence of proper farm-gate prices, inadequate logistics, high transportation costs, lack of government intervention, and insufficient crop monitoring controls. These issues have been exacerbated by reports of farm-gate prices dropping to single-digit levels, approximately PHP5 per kilogram, due to market oversupply, lack of buyers, and persistent severe weather caused by the southwest monsoon.
Farmers also face logistical challenges when transporting produce to the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post. They often encounter extended delays and road blockages caused by landslides, leading to crop deterioration before reaching buyers and further financial losses.
The Food Conservation Program is aligned with the Right to Adequate Food under the Magna Carta of the Poor and seeks to provide sustainable solutions to hunger. This multi-agency initiative is led by NAPC, CDA, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Science and Technology, Food and Nutrition Research Institute, DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, DA-Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Department of Transportation.
