By Manny Piñol
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will support the initiative of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to market fresh young coconuts or Buko using multi-cabs or small trucks in populated areas of the metropolis.
MMDA Chairman Danny Lim, who attended the launching today of the Summer Coco Festival which aims to promote drinking of Coconut Water, said he will talk with the Mayors of the cities in Metro Manila to allow Coco Vendors on Wheels to sell “Buko.”
The MMDA has been clearing Metro Manila streets of obstructions, including ambulant vendors who impede traffic.
Chairman Lim, however, said that since the Coco Vendors on Wheels are mobile, these are not expected to obstruct movements in the streets.
Besides, he said he could ask the support of Metro Manila Mayors to designate an area for the Coco Vendors on Wheels.
He said he will also ask the Mayors to urge restaurants and eateries in their cities to offer young Coconuts to their customers.
In the program designed by the DA and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), jobless families, Out-of-School-Youth and students looking for summer jobs will be engaged in selling fresh green coconuts in Metro Manila and other major cities in the country.
They will be provided transport vehicles on loan and working capital so they could buy young coconuts from farmers.
The Coconut farmers, in the other hand, will be organized by the PCA and engaged in supplying the green coconuts which will be bought for at least P8 to P10 per piece.
Green coconuts are now sold by ambulant vendors using “karitons” for at least P35 per piece.
The green coconuts will be delivered to a consolidation area in Metro Manila where these will be cleaned.
From the consolidation area, the green coconuts will be brought by the Coco Vendors in Wheels to the different parts of Metro Manila.
The program is expected to expand the market for Coconut and provide an alternative source of income for Coconut farmers who have suffered from very low prices of copra in recent months.
It is also expected to provide livelihood opportunities for Metro Manila families who do not have steady sources of income, including Out-of-School Youth and students.
Next week, the validation of all applicants for this program will start including the training of the vendors on proper handling and hygiene.
(Photos of the launching of the Summer Coco Festival taken by Alan Jay Jacalan, Gian Carlo Luage and Lito Degorio, DA-AFID)
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