The National Food Authority And Is Role In The Development Of Farmers’ Cooperatives: A Case Study Of The Shalom Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Tago, Surigao del Sur

Abstract

The importance of rice (and corn) in the Philippine economy lies in the fact that it is consumed by about 85% of the Filipino population. It comprises 24% of the consumer's food basket and 13% of the consumer’s market basket. As such any change in its price has a significant and direct effect on the consumer’s purchasing power and cost of living. The National Food Authority was initially created to promote the integrated development of the grains industry and later including raw, fresh, processed and manufactured food products. Being in the forefront of providing marketing and infrastructure assistance to farmers, the NFA must primarily attend to providing reasonable income to farmers and to all the stakeholders of the grains industry. With the advent of globalization, farmers are caught unprepared for the impending liberalization and deregulation of the grains sector. This paper examines the effectiveness of the government, through the NFA, in assisting in the development of farmers’ cooperatives like the Shalom MPCI in Tago, Surigao del Sur. Further, it will present a glimpse of the efficacy of NFA in addressing the needs of farmers and farmer organizations through its various programs and projects.