Implementing Agency:

Department of Agriculture Western Visayas and City Government of Iloilo

Year Implemented:

March 2020 – present

Themes:

Perspectives on Productivity, Governance, and Development; Digitization & New Technologies

General Description

Kadiwa on Wheels is a joint initiative of the Department of Agriculture in the Western Visayas Region and the City Government of Iloilo, that seeks to help ensure food security despite the quarantine measures imposed by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a mobile market that enables citizens access to fresh agricultural products sourced directly from farmers or through their agricultural associations and cooperatives. The Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita Online Service is its online component.

Background and Problems

The lockdown measures imposed by local governments on their constituents have severely constricted the mobility of market goods from various parts of the country, contributing to soaring market prices and threatening food stability in a country where 16.6% of the population lives below the poverty line. Farmers and agricultural cooperatives have had their supply chains interrupted by restrictions on travel to traders and middlemen, forcing them to sell their products at a loss or risk spoilage.

Solution and Impact

The Department of Agriculture launched a partnership with the Iloilo City Government to create a rolling marketplace that sources its products directly from farmers and delivers them to designated spaces in various town plazas. Farmers associations and cooperatives from Iloilo provinces manned the mobile markets, which officially started operating in March 2020.

Besides the upscaling of the program in an official capacity, the Department of Agriculture’s Regional Executive Director for Region 6 Remelyn Recoter championed the initiative on a provincial level, paving the way for other local governments to coordinate with national initiatives to ensure food stability in their respective localities. The agency facilitated the implementation of the initiative by issuing food passes in the entire region, ensuring the unhampered movement of agriculture and fishery products.

To further reach communities affected by quarantine, DA opened its Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita online service using Google Forms (https://bit.ly/2BY1S9J) to continually provide a stable food supply without having to raise prices significantly. The online initiative accepts orders in bulk and delivers within two days. The agency also collaborated with delivery services such as Grab and Tapao PH to bring goods directly to consumers’ homes.

Milestones

As of May 2020, Iloilo City markets generated sales of PHP 3,684,368.00, or about 46% of the PHP 8,096,082.42 in total sales for the entire Western Visayas region during the two-month community quarantine.

In the same month of the original Kadiwa on Wheels launch, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources inaugurated a seafood version of the initiative, seeking to market agri-fishery products from the provinces to communities deprived of movement due to community quarantine.

According to Executive Director Recoter, the Kadiwa project is one of the key COVID-19 responses that will continue to be implemented even after the pandemic has passed. As of February 2021, Region 6 markets—via wheels, outlets, and online—have earned over 62.8 million pesos since the pandemic started, involving eleven sites in the region and the participation of 3,528 households, 54 farmers associations, individual farmers, and private companies.

A 1 billion peso fund has been created by the national government to upscale Kadiwa and introduce improvements in production monitoring and transportation.

Photos

Farmers from the municipalities of Tubungan and Lambunao selling fresh vegetables and high-value crops at Kadiwa on Wheels located in Molo, Iloilo City (Source: PIA)

Kadiwa on Wheels in Iloilo City (Source: JMG Improgo)

Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita Online Service via Google Form (Source: https://bit.ly/2BY1S9J)

Sources:

AgriMag. (2020, April 6). DA’s Kadiwa Ni Ani At Kita Store Now Online. Agriculture Monthly. https://www.agriculture.com.ph/2020/04/06/das-kadiwa-ni-ani-at-kita-store-now-online/

Lena, P. (2021, February 2). DA’s Kadiwa earns over P62-M in W. Visayas since pandemic. Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1129340

Magcamit, Y. (2020, March 30). Department of Agriculture receives budget approval from IATF to aid farmers and ensure food security. Nolisoli. https://nolisoli.ph/77250/alpas-covid-19-department-of-agriculture-budget-approval-bn-ymagcamit-20200330/