The 2nd Luzon-Wide Cluster Meeting on Zero Waste cum Market Matching at the Agricultural Training Institute in Quezon City last week. In attendance were stakeholders from farming, government, and private sectors.

“I wanted to bring everybody to the discussion table so they would know that the ecosystem for the vegetable industry is big. It's just bringing them together to talk, to listen, and communicate is the goal, so I'm happy with what has transpired so far,” said Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for High Value Crops Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero.

“This started with vegetable dumping, especially tomatoes and wombok, and other highly perishable fruits and vegetables. We’re (DA national offices) are always patching things up when something goes wrong. Is our role only going to be relegated to rescue? It’s not a long-term solution, “ Region II Department of Agriculture Regional Executive Director (DA-RED) Rose Mary Aquino said in Tagalog. “If there are problems with vegetable and rice production in Northern and Southern Luzon, Metro Manila will starve. So we thought, why not organize stakeholders… so they can understand the needs of institutional buyers, especially when it comes to the price gap. Farmers [erroneously] think that it’s government policy when, for example, cabbage that they sell for ₱5 is sold for ₱50 in Manila. This meeting [is a chance to] clear that up.”

“It’s also an opportunity for everyone to understand the magnitude of production per region… and [update] the inter-coordination between agribusinesses in case of overproduction,” Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) RED Jennilyn Dawayan added in Tagalog. “We can’t tell farmers what not to plant, but we’re pacing the discussion towards planting what the market needs.”

Presentations included “Constraints in Vegetable Value Chain" by Institute of Plant Breeding Director Elmer E. Enicola, “Vegetable Consumption Study” by National Nutrition Council Deputy Executive Director Rosalina U. Bascao and Japan International Cooperation Agency Market-Driven Enhancement of Vegetable Value Chain (MV2C-JICA) Technical Assistant Ric Jayson C. Bernardino, as well as discussions with institutional buyers on consistency, quality, volume, and price points presented by World Food Expo President and Farm Forward Initiatives Chairman Joel Pascual, MacroAsia AVP Allan Espino, and S&R Senior Manager Ian Invierno.

“We opened the doors for discussion [for] farmers that are ready to connect to institutional buyers based on their planning mechanism, Natividad-Caballero said. “[The] companies that participated will have direct to farmers linkages, so we can be assured that the farmers also benefit from the price points and volume they are expected to produce and bring to market.”

“This conversation is important to help correct wrong sentiments among vegetable farmers. For example, when prices drop from oversupply, farmers ask why other regions are allowed to sell their produce in ours. We tell them that it’s not practical because there might come a time when we’ll need those crops,” Region IV-A RED Redeliza Gruezo said. ”Regional crop programming is important so we can regulate production so goods can be sold at proper prices.”

Another prevailing myth is the public tendency to demand accountability from the DA Central Office for events other government agencies are responsible for.

“Whenever farmers are in trouble, the Department of Agriculture [Central Office] is immediately to blame when there are other players involved… Remember, the DA operates within the national and local government units. We have to help each other,” Aquino said. “We want this event to be a take-off point to stakeholders understanding each other’s roles… Today’s participants can help explain the role of the DA [Central Office] to others.”

The event is just the beginning to a long journey of trying to make the food system as transparent as possible for all stakeholders. “This is our third meeting. The first was to establish understanding, the second was to share information,” Dawayan said. “This isn’t the final outcome… but more stakeholders are getting involved… There’s joy in seeing that [after discussions], we have an initial clarification of where to go.”

Because of its ongoing success, the Market Matching dialogue is set to be replicated in other regions. “The end goal is to make sure that the farmers are happy and are sustainable. They have their income and they will not leave farming. And for consumers to be able to buy vegetables that are affordable and safe for consumption,” Natividad-Caballero added. “The farmers were saying they will now go home with a light-hearted spirit, rather than dampening their mood with a solution that's not realistic. I think this is what walking the talk is supposed to be. This is where government comes in: to bring that facilitation and orchestrate the discussion in an exclusive, inclusive, transparent, and sustainable manner.”