Officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) led by Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban met with representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on November 8, 2022 to talk about the status of Deliver-E, an electronic commerce platform for agricultural products that serves as a single digital supply chain platform connecting all stakeholders.
DELIVER Project’s MSME Competitiveness Component Team Leader and former DA Assistant Secretary Leandro Gazmin reported that the said platform enabled increased income of about 100 to 200 percent for farmers, lower prices for consumers, and fresher produce due to shortened value chain.
As of September 2022, he added, Deliver-E has mobilized half a million kilos of fresh produce amounting to P71 M, benefitting 222 Filipino farmers and serving more than 5,500 customers country-wide.
The USAID has been coordinating with the DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) and the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) to expand Deliver-E’s operations and reach, as well as to develop access to a finance tool for agri-business enterprises.
It has also partnered with financial Institutions such as the Philippine Business Bank and the Card Bank and is now expanding its reach to more banking institutions in the Philippines.
Deliver-E was made possible by USAID’s partnership with the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under the Delivering Effective Government for Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth (DELIVER) Project, specifically its Micro-, Small-, and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSME) Competitiveness component.
The MSME Competitiveness component further aims to improve the MSMEs’ financial access, strengthen the agricultural value chain, and enhance access to markets in the Philippines.
The USAID delegates were led by DELIVER Project’s Chief of Party Greg Robbins and comprised of Deputy Chief of Party Jem Armovit, Fiscal Reform and Public Financial Management Component Team Leader Tere Quirino, Infrastructure Development Component Team Leader Ronilo Balbieran, and MSME Competitiveness Component Team Leader Leandro Gazmin. ### (Krystelle Ymari A. Vergara, DA-AFID)
