Sales of pro-poor rice outlets on the uptrend

Rice sales in the Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke (BGP) and the Coconut Farmers Food Access Program (CFFAP) rice outlets have increased substantially.

National Food Authority Administrator Arthur C. Yap reported the increase in sales last month which he attributed to the high selling price of rice in the other outlets with the onset of the lean months and the concentration of NFA’s rice distribution in outlets inside markets through the BGP.

From 215,689 bags for the month of June, sales of BGP rice outlets in July jumped to 390,556 bags or an increase of 81 percent. Sales through the CFFAP rice outlets, meanwhile, registered a 50 percent increase from 24,455 bags to 36,630 bags for the two-month period.

The BGP and the CFFAP are some of the pro-poor programs of the NFA. They are exclusive rice outlets that sell NFA rice at P16 per kg. CFFAP is targetted to serve mostly coconut farmers who are affected by the slump in the price of coconut products.

Yap said that quality NFA rice are more visible and available to consumers through the BGP and CFFAP outlets. The assurance of sufficient rice supply at an affordable price contribute a lot in maintaining the country’s economic and political stability, he noted.

Yap also said that for the month of July, the agency’s field offices have established a total of 838 stationary stores to make NFA rice and other commodities more visible and available at all times to the poor.