At Sarangani capital’s special market, farmers earn big without the middlemen

Since its launch in 2021, the program has generated a combined income of over ₱7.3 million for Alabel’s farmers

SARANGANI, Philippines – For years, it had been a challenge for small-scale farmers from the upland barangays of the capital town of Alabel to bring their produce to local markets. 

Transport costs and price markups — no thanks to multiple middlemen — cut deeply into their earnings. For instance, Datal Anggas, the farthest barangay from the town center, is 21 kilometers away. Direct access to buyers had been both costly and difficult for the farmers. 

That began to change in 2021, when the municipal government of Alabel launched the Food Hub Market Day, a weekly initiative that gives farmers a space to sell directly to consumers. It is held every Tuesday in Barangay Alegria, and every third Tuesday of the month at the municipal grounds. 

Felipe, a vegetable farmer from Datal Anggas and one of the farmers who participate in the Food Hub Market Day, said the initiative has made a noticeable difference in their livelihood.

“Before, no matter how hard you worked on the farm, it still felt like it wasn’t enough because traders and transporters would take such a big cut. Now, we sell directly to consumers and you immediately see the return,” he shared in Cebuano.

Bridging the gap

The program goes beyond just providing space. The local government subsidizes transportation costs, ensuring that farmers from far-flung areas can bring their produce without shouldering additional expenses, said outgoing mayor Vic Paul Salarda. 

Since the project started, the local government has released over ₱650,000 in subsidies. 

To further support the farmers, the municipal agriculture office helps farmers register under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and access crop insurance through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC). 

The program has generated a combined income of over ₱7.3 million for farmers. A total of 353,124.70 kilograms of commodities have been sold through the Food Hub as of April 2024, with over 206,000 kilos recorded in just its first two years.

Moreover, over 130 farmers from the 13 barangays are now registered under the initiative, with the largest number coming from the upland barangays Alegria, Pag-asa, and Spring.

Agri efforts pushed

The local and national governments launched a series of agriculture-focused initiatives in recent years. 

In December 2023, the Municipal Agriculture Office held a Bulb Onion Harvest Festival in Barangay Baluntay under the High-Value Crop Development Program. The event highlighted the success of an 800-square-meter demo farm by the Alabel Vegetable Producers Association (AVPA), which cultivated red bulb onions with support from the local government through farm inputs and technical assistance. 

AVPA has since become a regular supplier to the Alabel Food Hub Market, offering locally grown onions to residents while reducing dependency on imports.

In April 2024, the Department of Agriculture (DA) launched its Agri-Puhunan at Pantawid Program in Alabel, granting smallholder rice farmers access to low-interest loans of up to ₱60,000 per cropping season, with only 2% annual interest. The program also offers a ₱8,000 monthly allowance for four months and digital monitoring cards to track input purchases, marking a major intervention in rice sector support.

In August, Alabel played host to the rollout of the CocoGrow Project, a collaboration between Cargill, ASSIST, and the Philippine Coconut Authority. The initiative aims to revitalize Sarangani’s coconut industry by distributing 75,000 high-yield seedlings across 535 hectares in Alabel, Malapatan, and Malungon. 

A total of 500 smallholder farmers, half of them women, are now benefiting from sustainable farming training and long-term livelihood support through the project.

As the leadership transitioned on June 30, newly-elected Mayor Lilibeth Salarda vowed to sustain and strengthen the initiative by improving farm-to-market roads, providing farm machinery, offering free hauling services and seedlings, and expanding access to farmer training programs. – Rappler.com

Rey Mark Paran is a senior statistics student at the University of the Philippines Visayas. An Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2025, he is also the managing editor of Pagbutlak.