The Department of Agriculture in Bicol will soon launch the “Barangay Food Terminal” (BFT) project to benefit both the farmer-producers and the consumers. The BFT is a barangay-based food depot and distribution system offering affordable, safe and quality food products such as lowland and highland vegetables, fish, meat, ready-to-cook menu meals, grains and dairy products and processed foods to the consumers.

        DA OIC Regional Executive Director Jose V. Dayao said that through the Barangay Food Terminal Project, farmers can directly sell to wholesalers and retailers without the need for middlemen so they can earn more. On the part of the consumers, they will benefit from the cheaper prices and quality of their products.

        Numerous local government units in the region have already signified to avail of this project partly funded by the Japan Grant Assistance for Underprivileged Farmers, also known as the 2KR (Kennedy Round) grant, which aims to benefit Filipino farmers below the poverty line.

        For one, Mayor Carlos Irwin G. Baldo, Jr. of Camalig, Albay has already submitted to Secretary Yap the necessary requirements for the establishment of a BFT in barangay Cotmon and in barangay Iluluan in Camalig. Once operationalized, the BFT in Bgy. Cotmon will cover (ten) 10 barangays and is expected to serve a total of 2,228 households. The BFT in Bgy. Iluluan will cater to five (5) barangays with a total of 882 households.

        In preparation for the formal launching of the Camalig Barangay Food Terminal in October, its management team already attended a management training conducted by the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) at the DA Central Office in Quezon City and visited model BFTs at Metro Manila.

        For its part, the Local Government Unit of Camalig, Albay will provide the building facilities. The Sangguniang Barangay of Cotmon on the other hand, shall allocate initial operating capital.

        The Department of Agriculture will provide a cold storage facility and shall link the BFT to the suppliers/producers of agri-fishery products, as well as provide technical assistance during the pre-operation and actual operation of the BFT.

        Conceptualized and initiated by Secretary Yap during his first stint as DA secretary three years ago, this BFT project is a component of the DA’s five-point program to boost farm productivity and ensure greater profitability for Filipino farmers and fisherfolk.

        For 2007, the DA is projecting a total of two million beneficiaries from the BFTs it is setting up in the rest of Metro Manila, other regions and in the country’s economic zones. Lovella Guarin