Department of Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez/Photo file/THEPHILBIZNEWS
By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Capitalizing on technology and addressing the need to be innovative and digitally ready to prevent the spread of COVID19, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)—together with the Department of Agriculture (DA), private sector partners, farmer cooperatives, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)— officially launched DELIVER-e last December 14, 2020, alongside a multi-stakeholder commitment pledge signing to upscale agriculture value chain and improve overall food security in the country even beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
“This initiative is all about bringing farm produce closer to consumers and cutting layers of traders. Through technology and innovation, it will be game-changing not only for our farmers but also for our consumers,” DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said.
“This is part of our strong partnership with Agriculture Secretary William Dar as we jointly work on solutions to increasing farmers’ income, providing better supply chain in agriculture and its link to industry processors or direct to the marketplace, and delivering fresher products for consumers,” the Trade Chief added.
DELIVER-e is a digital platform that connects farmers to buyers through an efficient and transparent end-to-end market-based system. It operates through a sophisticated blockchain technology developed by a Filipino tech startup, Insight Supply Chain Solutions (InsightSCS), that integrates related e-commerce and logistics application services from consolidation point to central warehousing facility, and then to last-mile delivery services to reach end-clients.
As the lead agency for the Inter-agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) sub-taskforce on the food value chain and logistics, DTI brought together public and private partners, as well as development partners like the USAID, to design and implement strategies addressing the looming threat on food security and widened the gap in the agriculture value chain.
“Our main goal is to increase production and ensure supply stability for basic necessities and prime commodities through new business models,” Sec. Lopez said.
The immediate collaborative planning, consultation, and benchmarking activities of the DTI, DA, private sector partner Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP), logistics technology experts, farmer groups, and the USAID DELIVER-Project paved the way for the development and initial launch of DELIVER-e in early April 2020.
DELIVER-e business process
Since April, this innovative platform has mobilized over 260 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables and recorded more than PhP 7.15 million worth of transactions. Additionally, it has helped around 600 farmers in Luzon and some provinces in Mindanao by doubling their income from their harvests and reducing wastage from 50 percent down to only 5 percent.
Even beyond the pandemic situation, DELIVER-e’s technology is deemed as one of the key sustainable solutions to improve the Philippines’ agriculture value chain, making the country more food-secure while improving the lives of every Filipino farmer.
With the intent of further developing DELIVER-e and its database modules, DTI—together with its collaborators from the National Government, private sector, farmer groups, and the USAID—will undertake a ceremonial commitment pledge signing during the “DELIVER-e Goes Live” official launch event on 14 December 2020 to solidify greater collaboration and cooperation efforts.
As the platform onboards more players in the agriculture value chain, DELIVER-e will soon be able to build an elaborate supply-and-demand dashboard system that will be useful in providing insightful data for the Philippine Government’s evidence-based decision-making process in relevant sectors and issues as the country moves towards building back better.
“Instead of adjusting to the New Normal, let us try to create a Better Normal where all Filipinos can enjoy the fruits of our country’s inclusive growth and shared prosperity for all,” DTI Sec. Lopez underscored.
In October 2019, DTI and DA also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) reinforcing strong collaboration and implementation of the Agribusiness Support for Promotion and Investment in Regional Expositions (ASPIRE) between the government and the private sector.
Through DELIVER-e, the public and private sectors will be able to realize ASPIRE’s ultimate vision of creating businesses and jobs for the rural community by linking farmers directly to the market.