On July 1, 2026, Guimaras State University (GSU), through its Community Extension Services Office (CESO), in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture (DA), formally inaugurated the KADIWA Pop-Up Store at the Students’ Activity Center, Salvador Campus, advancing a shared agenda of localized agri-food marketing and community-based enterprise development.
Conceived as an extension mechanism for agricultural market intermediation, the KADIWA Pop-Up Store provides a structured venue where local producers, farmer organizations, and agri-entrepreneurs may directly interface with consumers, fortifying equitable market access, shortening distribution channels, and strengthening the circulation of locally produced commodities.
In her welcome address, University President Dr. Lilian Diana B. Parreño stressed the University’s extension mandate as a catalyst for rural transformation, emphasizing the strategic role of higher education institutions in supporting agricultural productivity, community livelihoods, and regional economic ecosystems.
Laying out the framework of the initiative, CESO Director Daisy B. Ibieza presented the statement of purpose, describing the KADIWA Pop-Up Store as an institutional extension platform that enhances market visibility for local producers while inspiring greater appreciation for Guimaras-grown and Guimaras-made products.
Institutional perspectives were subsequently shared by Dr. Julius T. Vergara, Vice President for Research, Extension, Training, and Innovation, and Mr. Larry Falcis Jr., Marketing Specialist I of the Department of Agriculture–Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (DA-AMAD). Their messages emphasized inter-agency convergence in strengthening agricultural value chains, broadening market participation, and stressing food system resilience through sustained collaboration among government, academia, and farming communities.
The formal ribbon-cutting signified the operational opening of the KADIWA Pop-Up Store, making its services immediately accessible to the University community and neighboring consumers.
In her closing message, Dr. Rhea Joy D. Flora, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, emphasized the initiative’s potential to serve as a living extension laboratory where instruction, community engagement, and agricultural enterprise converge, while providing local producers with a dependable outlet for market participation.
