In the recently concluded Climate Resilient Agro-Industrialized Value Chain Analysis (I-VCA) Training held in Puerto Princesa City, MIMAROPA Region identified 13 commodities for crafting of a Value Chain Analysis this 2023. These commodities are cacao, goat, milkfish, salt, and chicken that will be prepared for regional VCAs. At the same time, coffee, ube, ginger, mungbean, sweet potato, and dairy buffalo will be crafted for provincial VCAs. 

The development of these I-VCAs will be in collaboration with the City/Provincial Project Management and Implementation Units (C/PPMIU) and the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Regional Project Coordinating Office (RPCO) MIMAROPA and Project Support Office (PSO) South Luzon’s Planning Component. 

Coffee and cacao VCAs will be made for Puerto Princesa City; cacao, milkfish and goat will be done for Palawan; chicken (meat and egg) ginger, mungbean and salt for Occidental Mindoro; sweet potato, dairy buffalo, goat and cacao for Marindque; and chicken (meat and egg) and ube for Romblon. 

According to the training module, I-VCA presents the players and activities involved in bringing a product from production to consumption and to understand the constraints to improving value chain performance. Its results are the basis used in the PRDP Commodity System Investment Planning (CsIP) in prioritizing DA-LGU and private sector investments by commodity and its derivative “product forms”.

Moreover, DA-PRDP has been integrating climate tools into the VCA where global climate trends are considered and reflected through the Climate Risk Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA). Hence, the training workshop aimed at capacitating the planning officers, provincial agriculturists, provincial veterinarians and agriculture technicians of C/PPMIUS in producing a more holistic or enhanced VCA or known as I-VCA. 

The five-day training done on November 14-18 focused on the mentioned commodities. Participants had rigorous discussions and workshops about the data requirements, data collection, production and supply analysis, commodity prioritization, PRDP’s planner’s portal and the Expanded Vulnerability and Suitability Assessment (eVSA), value chain mapping, key players and functions, nature and interim relationships, benchmarking, markets and market trends, price trends, price and cost structure per player, relative financial position, financial services, non-financial services, and the CRVA in support to Provincial Commodity Investment Plan. 

In a closing message, Dr. Celso Olido, RPCO MIMAROPA Enterprise Development Component (I-REAP) head and one of the resource speakers in the training, emphasized the importance of the VCAs in policy making. 

“Ito ay nakakatulong sa gobyerno kung ano ang mga policies na mga gagawin. Ang output ninyo ay makakatulong sa ekonomiya ng Pilipinas. Malaki ang maitutulong nito sa economic at rural development,” Dr. Olido said. 

While Ramon Policarpio, Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division and I-REAP Component Marketing Specialist, emphasized on the importance of VCAs in enterprise development. 

“Malaki ang magiging role ninyo sa I-Reap, kasi kayo ang magfi-fire up sa business plan na siyang magbibigay sa enterprise ng pakinabang,” he said. 

He also said that participants should envision a globally competitive product. 

“Ang vision natin ngayon ay pang-international. Yung products line na iniisip natin ay i-elevate natin pang international,” he added.  

The Planning Component of the DA-PRDP RPCO MIMAROPA led the said training in cooperation with the I-REAP Component. Also, with them were Planning Officers from PSO- South Luzon and a representative from the DA-Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture Program. 

To date, MIMAROPA has 14 approved commodity VCAs. (Denice Joelle Benosa, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)

For the price and cost structure topic, participants had a “Running Man” Challenge, a game derived from the popular Korean reality TV show where players race to complete a given task. In this workshop, participants race to the Puerto Princesa City Old Market to fill-up retailer questionnaires about a particular commodity identified for VCA. (Photo by Denice Joelle Benosa, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)

Participants from Marinduque, Palawan, Puerto Princesa City, Romblon, and Occidental Mindoro plot a geographical flow map that shows the market flow of fishery products within and outside the region. It is used in the VCA to assess the movement of the produce from the point of production to the point of sale. (Photo by Denice Joelle Benosa, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)

Participants from different provinces are grouped together to identify the key players in cacao value chain map.
(Photo by Denice Joelle Benosa, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)