The Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas (DA-6), through its Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD), has opened a Kadiwa Display Center (KDC) to serve as a venue to showcase regional products.
DA-6 AMAD officer-in-charge May Ann Grajo, in an interview on Tuesday, said that through the KDC, they are hoping to give entrepreneurs a place where they can display their products with a better potential for local and even export markets when improved.
“The essence of our Kadiwa Display Center is that when somebody visits, we have something to show that our local products are competitive in terms of price and the product itself,” Grajo said.
“We help develop their packaging and labeling because our intention is for farmers to go into agribusiness.”
Grajo said they are also helping entrepreneurs have a legal personality and secure a license to operate.
She said the KDC could also become a source of business opportunities since they want buyers, investors, and sellers to have a direct link with each other.
The KDC, which used to be a one-stop agribusiness center, is open on weekdays on the ground floor of the DA-6 building.
“We want to institutionalize this as a center which can be relied on. The farmers can depend on it,” Grajo said.
The DA official said they gathered over 50 products from Panay and Guimaras from participating organizations, the private sector, farmers, and fisherfolk during the opening day on Monday.
“This is just a part of the broader Kadiwa ng Pangulo Program, which aimed to provide farmers with direct market access and offer consumers fresh and affordable products,” she said. (PNA)