Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative to the Philippines Sakamoto Takema signed on December 23, 2022 the Minutes of the Meeting to Amend the Records of Discussion for the technical cooperation project of DA and JICA on Market Driven Enhancement of Vegetable Value Chain in the Philippines (MVC2).
The project, which commenced in early 2022, aims to strengthen vegetable value chain models in selected municipalities of Benguet and Quezon provinces, as well as in Metro Manila.
The signed minutes of meeting contained modifications, including an updated project framework based on the detailed planning survey conducted lat August to September, as well as pilot projects for implementation.
According to Panganiban, the MVC2 project will develop inclusive business models that will contribute to increasing the income of vegetable farmers in the country.
Aligned with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. the project will focus on rebuilding value chains in order to achieve food security and sufficiency.
“With the increasing food prices and inefficiencies in the food supply chain due to high cost of logistics and food distribution, we need to find ways by which we can lower the production costs, deliver goods to the markets, and make it ore affordable to the consuming public,” Panganiban said.
For his part, Sakamoto explained that the long withstanding cooperation for agriculture between the Philippines and JICA has focused on the production side of value chain, which includes the establishment of agricultural infrastructures and irrigation systems.
He added that as JICA recognizes the importance of addressing the development needs in other aspects of the food value chain.
“This technical cooperation is a testament to this move, as JICA considers that this market-oriented approach is also essential to to address the issues related to income generation, job creation and disparity mitigation among others,” he said.
Sakamoto added that the signing is a good Christmas gift to the Philippines.
“We envision our project to provide solutions to the pressing issues on food value chain, and eventually contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of Filipino farmers,” he said.
The signing was witnessed by Bureau of Plant industry OIC-Director Glenn Panganiban, Field Operations Services OIC-Director U-Nichols Manalo, Chief of Special Project Coordination and Management Division Angelita Martir, JICA Senior Representative Shimizu Mikako, and First Secretary for Agriculture of the Embassy of Japan Jumpei Tachikawa. ### (Adora D. Rodriguez, DA-AFID)
