FTI Is The Solution!

This heart-rending scene of an aggrieved farmer may have been staged but it reflects the sad reality that the country’s farmers are suffering from a flawed marketing system.
With no direct access to the market, they are victims of exploitation by traders and middlemen.
This could only be corrected if government establishes a National Food Repositioning and Marketing Strategy.
This strategy which I had repeatedly advocated, calls for the reactivation of the Food Terminal Inc.
The FTI, a government-owned corporation under the National Food Authority, could directly buy farmers’ and fishermen’s produce at a pre-agreed price.
The FTI could then sell these commodities – rice, meat, chicken, vegetables, fruits and other basic food items – in Food Outlets in urban centers or areas where these are in short supply.
Consumers will enjoy fresh food commodities at lower prices while farmers would be encouraged to produce more because they know they have a ready market.
Sadly, this very simple solution to Food Inflation and farmers’ desperation resulting in low productivity is stumped by our Economists who insist that government should not dip its fingers into free enterprise.
They have failed to realize that our market is controlled by the cartel and traders.
Worse, we are a geographically fragmented country which makes movement of goods difficult and expensive.
This is another classic clash of Economic Theories and Prevailing Realities.

#ImGettngTired!