Vegetable producers, input dealers, traders, and other support service providers in Benguet convened for a stakeholders’ consultation to validate the draft Value Chain Analysis (VCA) for Highland Vegetables on August 16, 2018 in Baguio City.

“As part of the VCA process, all concerned government agencies as support service providers including private sectors involved in the commodity flow should validate all the information incorporated in the commodity VCA,” said Susan D. Balanza, head of the I-PLAN component of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) Regional Project Coordination Office – CAR (RPCO-CAR).

The stakeholders’ consultation intended to ensure the reliability and consistency of data and other elements identified in the VCA.

“It is a venue where representatives from concerned government agencies and private sectors to agree or disagree and to add more of the functions and other relevant information in the VCA draft,” added Balanza.

Dr. Fernando R. Gonzales, hired consultant for the VCA, presented the draft VCA for highland vegetables. He discussed the overview of the vegetable industry, the nature and structure, the markets and market opportunities, the constraints and opportunities among others.

Accordingly, the commodities included in the VCA for highland vegetables are cabbage, chinese cabbage, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, garden pea/ sweet pea, bell pepper, lettuce and snap beans (pole).

As Dr. Gonzales presents the constraints and opportunities for highland vegetables, the participants including representatives from the Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) of Benguet reviewed the data presented and gave their comments and recommendations.

Upon the revision of the VCA draft incorporating the inputs from the stakeholders, the document will be submitted to the PRDP Project Support Office (PSO) for review and approval.

The value chain approach refers to the free range of activities required to bring a product through various stages of production, including physical transformation, inputs of various producer services, and response to consumer demand. It is said to determine the value created in a product or service which results from a determined set of value-adding processes and the participation of actors of the sector when carefully implemented. ### Elvy Taquio (DA-PRDP RPCO-CAR InfoACE Unit)

RPCO-CAR I-PLAN Component Head Susan D. Balanza gives her input during the presentation of the draft VCA for Highland Vegetables in a Stakeholders’ consultation held on August 16, 2018.