The Japan International Cooperation Agency and Department of Agriculture team up to boost the Philippine food value chain by providing business matching opportunities among stakeholders of the vegetable industry in Benguet and Quezon this week.

Jica and DA are working with Benguet and Quezon LGUs for the Project for Market-Driven Enhancement of Vegetable Value Chain in the Philippines to uplift the livelihoods of Filipino farmers and other players in the vegetable industry, as well as improve food security and consumers' quality of life.

The project pursues to address major problems in the supply chain such as fluctuating prices and unstable production, high production cost, low value addition, and low consumption of vegetables.

The goal of the forum is to "gather inputs from stakeholders to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the pilot projects towards the development of inclusive value-chain models that will be useful to the entire Philippine vegetable industry and consumers," Jica senior representative Oshima Jiro said.

The forum opened opportunities to create new business modalities among institutional buyers, input producers, equipment suppliers, traditional traders and vegetable producers.

This initiative is the project's first stakeholders' forum, with future forums aiming to further facilitate dialogues among stakeholders and address the major issues in the vegetable supply chain.

JICA and DA have also aligned the MV2C-TCP's activities with the Philippine Vegetable Industry Roadmap 2021-2025 which called for increased stakeholder participation in agriculture development.

Launched in April 2023, the pilot activities of the project in Benguet and Quezon are currently ongoing. These include optimization of greenhouse cultivation, introduction of high-quality seedlings, use of humidifying refrigeration system and pre-cooling system, and use of plastic crates to reduce shipment losses, among others.

The efforts will benefit farmers in Benguet and Quezon, while ensuring stable supply from two of the country's major sources of vegetables. In the Philippine Vegetable Industry Roadmap 2021-2025, Benguet province is listed as the top producer in the country for several priority crops such as cabbage, carrots, and snap beans.

Quezon is the top vegetable producer within Calabarzon, which is a major source of lowland vegetables in Metro Manila considering its proximity to the capital region.

The project also dispatched several Japanese experts on the field to share technical expertise on food value chain models.

Meanwhile, a social media platform "KA-GULAY" has been launched to disseminate information about project activities and achievements under MV2C-TCP and to provide business opportunities to actors from the private sector in the vegetable value chain.