A new financial grant for farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) across the country has been opened by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to help them improve and speed up the process of delivering agricultural products from farm and fishing grounds to market.
In a virtual presser of the department on Thursday, Asec. Kristine Evangelista said that due to earnings and observed success of Kadiwa ni at Kita project, the department will offer the “Enhanced Kadiwa at Kita Financial Grant” to farmers and producers for additional capital.
The Kadiwa ni at Kita was launched in 2019 helped farmers and fishers to find markets for their agricultural products during the quarantine period.
“Because of the success of Kadiwa, we also realized that government can help our farmers and producers para madagdagan ang kanilang role sa value chain. So that is why we came up with an Enhanced Kadiwa at Kita Financial Grant parang start-up capital in a sense na makakatulong ito sa ating farmers-produces whether they will be buying crates or bibili sila ng mga truck para madala nila ang kanilang produkto directly to the market,” she said.
Evangelista said that the department has talked to all regional offices in the country to look for deserving FCAs to avail of the grant.
Interested FCAs may submit their proposals to DA to see their intention and the needs that will be supported through the grant. The amount of financial assistance will range from P50,000 up to P2M.
Evangelista advised FCAs to coordinate with the DAs regional offices under Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) to know the process of application and for other details.
“Our regional field offices, AMADs, sila ang nakakatutok diyan together with CDA, tayo ay nakipag-partner na sa Cooperative Development Authority para makita natin ang eligibility ng bawat mga kooperatiba because that is number one requirement, to be registered in CDA,” she said.
“We also look at ‘yong kanilang track record, ang kanilang kakayahan para alam natin kung ano ang kanilang pangangailangan at anong klaseng grant ang kaya nila paikutin na pondo para sa kanilang partisipasyon sa Kadiwa,” she said.
Meanwhile, DA said that FCAs may also coordinate with the department’s Agricultural Credit and Financing Programs (ACPC) to borrow capital for their projects up to P10M.
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