Cagayan de Oro City—The city government started selling affordable rice on Tuesday until Friday at the city hall mini park for ₱36, ₱39, ₱40, ₱41, and ₱44 per kilo, with no limit on how many kilos buyers can purchase.

The city information office said the sale was in accordance with the ‘Kadiwa ng Pangulo: Rice for All’ program of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The sale coincided with the opening of the Kadiwa Farmers’ Market. The Department of Agriculture Northern Mindanao regional office has opened the Kadiwa Farmers’ Market at Robinsons Limketkai Center.

Agriculture Northern Mindanao Director Jose Apollo Pacamalan said the Kadiwa Farmers’ Market, formally opened last week, aims to provide affordable, quality, and accessible agri-fishery products to consumers.

Spearheaded by the agency’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) and in partnership with Robinsons, some ten local farmers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are given the venue to market their fresh produce directly to the public.

Participating exhibitors include the Northern Mindanao Federation of Dairy Cooperatives, Fisherfolks of Agusan Aquatic Agriculture Cooperative, Homegrown Marketing Cooperative, Miarayon Talakag Highland Farmers Association, Manzano Farm, CNQ Farm, CdeO Integrated Farm, NM Foods, Agay-ayan MPC, and Chill and Grind.

Pacamalan said the Kadiwa Farmers’ Market is one of the region’s Kadiwa Pop-up Stores, a marketplace that began in 2020 and is managed by an identified consolidator or supplier to sell locally diverse agri-fishery products at prices lower than those in the general market.

“This initiative continues to strive in its goal to strengthen food security, empower local communities, and enhance the consumer experience. The Pop-up store has been transferred to a much more secure and larger space within the mall to meet both the comfort of the increasing number of exhibitors and the growing consumer base,” he said.