Grab Philippines and agri-social enterprise Zagana recently launched their newest initiative dubbed as Salamat Sa Ani.
The partnership aims to provide support to the farming communities by offering Salamat Sa Ani gift sets that are sourced directly from Zagana farmers in Benguet, Pangasinan, and Cavite. Each Salamat Sa Ani gift set – which includes fresh corn, bananas, and lime – is exclusively available on GrabMart for P299.00.
Salamat Sa Ani is one of the latest GrabForGood initiatives led by Grab Philippines where Grab’s technology and platform are leveraged to support the needs of the Filipino communities and help improve their lives and livelihoods.
During the height of the pandemic, one of the key GrabForGood initiatives led by Grab Philippines is GrabBayanihan – a program that leveraged Grab’s technology and platform to provide much-needed support to driver-partners, frontliners, displaced individuals, farming communities, and local governments.
As highlighted in the June 2020 Report of the World Bank, the supply chain of fresh produce and agricultural products in many parts of the Philippines was greatly impacted since the implementation of the lockdowns. With limited logistics options for transporting the produce from the farms to the public markets and groceries and the sharp decline in customer foot traffic in physical marketplaces, the livelihoods of Filipino farming communities – as well as the food security across many households, were at risk to certain points that farmers were forced to throw away their produce.
Through Grab’s technology, platform, and its partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Zagana, fresh produce from farming communities were given wider market access through the Grab app through the Department of Agriculture’s 2020 Program Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita.
Now, with a few taps on the app, Grab consumers get to enjoy fresh produce from local farmers, delivered straight into their doorsteps in as quick as less than an hour and at the same time supporting the local farming communities.
For Benguet-based farmer Ardan Copes, the partnership between Grab and Zagana provided new technology to farmers like himself who are used to traditional models for distributing and selling their produce. His main challenge when the pandemic hit was that there were too many vegetables wasted due to the absence of buyers brought by the quarantine.
Copes shared that “through Grab’s technology and platform, Zagana farmers like himself were able to better reach and serve new consumers.”
The partnership also gave farmers like Copes “a good market price for their produce which is why they did not hesitate to join the platform.” Copes adds that they “were able to continue with their livelihood despite the challenges of ECQ, which gave them a huge relief.”
With every order of fresh produce made on the Grab app, users are able to support the livelihoods of tens of thousands of driver-partners, MSMEs, and local farming communities who are also facing the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has truly impacted a lot of lives. Our partnership with Grab has allowed us to continuously serve our customers and support our local farmers, by leveraging Grab’s platform and technology to provide our kababayans access to fresh produce, delivered right at their doorsteps while providing livelihood for both the delivery partners and local farmers during these uncertain times,” Zagana Chief Executive Officer Joshua Aragon said.
“Using our platform and technology to help improve the lives and livelihoods of many Filipinos is what differentiates Grab as a community partner. We are grateful to have made a difference in the lives of millions of Filipinos through our GrabForGood program and we will continue with our commitment of using technology and our platform to encourage meaningful collaboration within our communities and help our kababayans overcome their daily struggles,” Grab Philippines Country Head Grace Vera Cruz said.