The Department of Agriculture in Caraga (DA-13) has opened a “Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita” locally-sourced trade fair that will run for 10 days in honor of women farmers and entrepreneurs in the region.

The fair, which was opened last March 22, will run until March 31 at Robinsons Place in this city.

In a statement Thursday, the DA-13 said the Kadiwa trade fair is in line with the annual celebration of Women’s Month, which marks the culmination of its six-year theme, “WE Make CHANGE Work for Women.”

“The 10-day fair also seeks to give the Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) in Caraga an avenue to sell their produce to a bigger market,” DA-13 said.

Lynn Pareñas, the chief of DA-13’s agribusiness and marketing assistance division, said the trade fair also recognizes the efforts and contributions of rural women in the agriculture sector.

Entrepreneurship is an edge for rural women farmers as they manage to do the marketing and the processing of their produce, Pareñas said.

The Kadiwa trade fair, she said, is among the strategies of the OneDA Reform Agenda that focuses on women’s engagements and recognizing them as one of the key agents of change in agriculture, nutrition, and rural development.

The trade fair offers fresh and affordable local produce at Robinsons Place Butuan, South Atrium expansion mall in 10 days from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, the DA-13 also announced the ongoing Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita on Wheels in the province of Dinagat Islands and Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte.

The Kadiwa on wheels in the two provinces commenced last March 22 and will run until Friday, March 25.

Residents in island provinces can buy affordable fresh fruits and vegetables including chicken, and other basic commodities through the mobile Kadiwa initiative.

“The Kadiwa on Wheels is a modified DA program spearheaded by its Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division wherein agriculture and fishery products and other basic commodities of Kadiwa partners, the FCAs, are brought closer to communities, especially those affected by Typhoon Odette in December last year,” DA-13 said. (PNA)