BENGUET FARMERS WELCOME SM SUPERMALL, DA DEAL EXPANDING URBAN AGRI SITES

June 24, 2023 Provincial

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet

Several farmer groups and farmer-traders in the province has welcomed the recent deal between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and SM Supermalls to expand its partnership to develop more
urban garden areas nationwide. In random interviews, local farmers and farmer-traders told
Amianan Balita Ngayon, it will give them more opportunities to market their produce, and hopefully it will drive the economic performance of the region especially in the agriculture sector.

Benguet supplies about 85 percent of temperate vegetables to Metro Manila and nearby provinces and cities, and also some parts of Visayas. Based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report, all industries in the Cordillera Region posted growths in 2022 with services sector as the main driver, except Mining and quarrying and Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing that contracted by 0.4 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

The SM Supermalls and SM Foundation will include the National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program (DANUPAP) in its Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan on Sustainable Agriculture Program, which provides employment to local farmers. Also the SM Foundation will also link the
urban garden producers with institutional markets. Under the agreement, DA will provide agricultural inputs, capacity-building activities, and informative materials, among others, to the
identified project sites.

Primo Agatep/ABN