Inclusive agriculture system key to Philippine’s growth – Concepcion

MANILA, Philippines — Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion has stressed the need for a more inclusive agriculture system, where the private sector helps small farmers grow.

“Agriculture is key to the growth of the Philippines,” Concepcion said in a statement over the weekend.

He added that a healthy agriculture industry would enable the country to better handle future food supply crises, especially with the private sector’s participation through Kapatid Angat Lahat program, which aims to create linkages between big business and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to aid inclusive growth.

In line with the efforts of big businesses to help MSMEs in agriculture scale up and become more productive, an initial meeting was recently held to explore inclusive solutions to the current food security problem.

The group comprised major players in Philippine agriculture, including Universal Leaf Phils. president Winston Uy, SL Agritech founder and Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc. president Henry Lim Bon Liong, Bounty Fresh chief executive officer Tennyson Cheng, W Hydrocolloids Inc. and Marine Resources Development Corp. chairperson Rosalind Wee, and Jose Cojuangco & Sons chief operating officer Nando Cojuangco.

Among the suggestions drawn up during the meeting was to rebuild the agriculture value chain to make it more inclusive so that farmers are rewarded commensurate with the amount of work they do and the risk they take.

Former Piddig, Ilocos Norte mayor Eddie Guillen, who was also part of the meeting, shared how raising agricultural productivity had helped lower poverty incidence in his town from 40 percent to nine percent.

Guillen stressed that the national government should listen to local governments when it comes to addressing agriculture.

Apart from making the agriculture value chain more inclusive, participants in the meeting also called for data-based and science-backed practices in agriculture, such as the improvement of the country’s databases on commodities, more focus on soil health particularly for crops like rice and sugar, and investment in weather planning.

It was also suggested that protectionism should only be for commodities needed to survive calamities, cooperativism should be adopted at the municipal level and the industry should strive to produce premium and high-value crops, especially rice.

Addressing structural issues and outdated policies, consolidating idle land, reducing volatility and mitigating it through better crop insurance were also proposed as factors that can help create a better foundation for private sector-led growth in agriculture.

Meanwhile, the businessmen emphasized that small farmers could benefit from the scale, technology and best practices of big business, such as in meat processing and post-harvest processing of crops.

They said proper handling of produce and better logistical practices could reduce the current high rejection rates among local produce and make them more profitable for vegetable farmers, who stand to earn more per square meter of land if they increase their productivity and improve their handling and logistical processes.