Sen. Loren Legarda
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Loren Legarda is pushing for the institutionalization of the Department of Agriculture’s Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran ng Kababayang Katutubo (4K) Program, a nationwide initiative designed to break the cycle of poverty and exclusion among Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) by creating and strengthening farm-to-market linkages. She emphasized that the measure seeks to transform decades of neglect into empowerment by delivering livelihood, dignity, and justice to families living in their ancestral lands.
Legarda filed Senate Bill No. 2258 to establish the 4K program, which adopts a market-driven approach. Unlike traditional initiatives that focus primarily on production, the program begins by identifying market demand and directly links Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities and their agricultural products—including coffee, rice, ube, bananas, corn, and bamboo— with institutional buyers from the private sector, the government, and the civic sector.
READ: Inclusive growth: Legarda seeks real impact of upper middle-income status
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