Anthony Dizon, President of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines, recommended investing in the nation’s rural agriculture infrastructure in a recent webinar discussing the future of the Philippines’ cold chain.
The webinar, titled “Supply Chain Trends, Resiliency & Recovery for the New Future” was held on June 23. It centered on the challenges and opportunities in the Philippine cold chain industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among Dizon’s suggestions:
- Providing support for the “Balik Probinsya” program — a government initiative that aims to ease congestion in the capital city of Manila by encouraging residents to return to rural areas.
- Optimizing productivity of agricultural land.
- Propagating the use of mid-level urban farming technologies.
- Providing developmental financing access to private sector micro-enterprises.
- Restructuring agricultural communities into organized cooperatives able to qualify for supplying big businesses.
- Rationalizing the operation of existing food supply chain facilities.
- Constructing additional infrastructure to support food security.
In addition, Dizon discussed the recovery in food demand in the Philippines, the pressure on the warehousing and transport sectors, the adjustment in the production cycle, and consumer budget realignment and prioritization on spending.
The webinar was organized by AEB, a supply chain logistics software provider; Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions, which provides supply chain management technology; and Prime Sales, a Philippines based provider of logistics and supply chain solutions.
This article was written by Gilda Garibay, Project Leader for the Global Partnership for Improving the Food Cold Chain in the Philippines Project.
