Gov't to reboot agri sector amid pandemic
Published May 1, 2020 12:00 am
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
As hunger looms further amid the persistence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Philippine government decided to “reboot” the entire agriculture sector, which has long been competing with cheaper, imported goods.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar (MANILA BULLETIN)
Agriculture secretary William Dar said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerabilities of the country’s current systems, particularly distorting the food supply chain and global trade.
“Therefore, it is imperative for government to rethink and restructure its policies and practices to prevent from being overwhelmed by future crisis,” Dar said.
“First, we must simply surpass this global crisis. Then, under the 'whole of nation approach,' we should build our own resilience not only to threats like COVID-19, but also to emerging challenges like climate change,” he added.
Dar said that after this pandemic, it is no longer going to be business as usual for the Department of Agriculture (DA) whose core focus is to help the farm sector “survive, reboot and grow."
Under the survival principle, the DA will continue to implement resiliency programs and projects, especially on climate change.
For instance, Dar said that to "survive" during this pandemic, farmers will be provided with fast-moving interventions such as cash assistance, soft loans, and sure market through the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program, a marketing strategy that targets to link farmers directly to consumers.
The DA also revived the urban agriculture and backyard gardening programs to help attain household food security, while it formed the Bantay Presyo Task Force to enforce the price freeze and suggested retail price policies on basic food commodities.
In terms of having the sector rebooted, Dar said there is a need to refocus the agency’s priorities and address what has disrupted the agricultural production and supply chain during the pandemic.
"This is where our eight paradigms under the new thinking for agriculture come into play,” Dar said.
Upon assumption into office in August last year, Dar instructed all DA offices and agencies to realign their respective programs under the eight paradigms, namely modernization, industrialization, export promotion, farm consolidation, infrastructure development, higher budget and investments for agriculture, legislative support, and roadmap development.
“We will elevate the eight paradigms by accelerating the implementation of the Plant, Plant, Plant Program that will further boost local food production and attain higher levels of food security,” Dar said.
Moving forward, Dar also said the DA will enhance its partnership with the private sector and local government units (LGUs), which he thinks could boost the overall productivity of the farm sector by attracting more investments and resources.
"The DA should rally and steer all agri-fishery industry stakeholders to propel the sector to ‘grow’ and reach its optimum potential," Dar said.
“With the help of the private sector and the LGUs, we hope to improve to the next level our produc-tivity and food supply chain through farm consolidation and clustering, provision of accessible financing, stronger linkages between production and marketing, and establishment of more post-harvest and processing facilities,” he added.
Just recently, the DA has partnered with private companies such as San Miguel Corporation, Agri Nurture, Inc., and Shell Philippines for different programs that aim to help the country's farmers during the pandemic.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar (MANILA BULLETIN)
Agriculture secretary William Dar said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerabilities of the country’s current systems, particularly distorting the food supply chain and global trade.
“Therefore, it is imperative for government to rethink and restructure its policies and practices to prevent from being overwhelmed by future crisis,” Dar said.
“First, we must simply surpass this global crisis. Then, under the 'whole of nation approach,' we should build our own resilience not only to threats like COVID-19, but also to emerging challenges like climate change,” he added.
Dar said that after this pandemic, it is no longer going to be business as usual for the Department of Agriculture (DA) whose core focus is to help the farm sector “survive, reboot and grow."
Under the survival principle, the DA will continue to implement resiliency programs and projects, especially on climate change.
For instance, Dar said that to "survive" during this pandemic, farmers will be provided with fast-moving interventions such as cash assistance, soft loans, and sure market through the Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program, a marketing strategy that targets to link farmers directly to consumers.
The DA also revived the urban agriculture and backyard gardening programs to help attain household food security, while it formed the Bantay Presyo Task Force to enforce the price freeze and suggested retail price policies on basic food commodities.
In terms of having the sector rebooted, Dar said there is a need to refocus the agency’s priorities and address what has disrupted the agricultural production and supply chain during the pandemic.
"This is where our eight paradigms under the new thinking for agriculture come into play,” Dar said.
Upon assumption into office in August last year, Dar instructed all DA offices and agencies to realign their respective programs under the eight paradigms, namely modernization, industrialization, export promotion, farm consolidation, infrastructure development, higher budget and investments for agriculture, legislative support, and roadmap development.
“We will elevate the eight paradigms by accelerating the implementation of the Plant, Plant, Plant Program that will further boost local food production and attain higher levels of food security,” Dar said.
Moving forward, Dar also said the DA will enhance its partnership with the private sector and local government units (LGUs), which he thinks could boost the overall productivity of the farm sector by attracting more investments and resources.
"The DA should rally and steer all agri-fishery industry stakeholders to propel the sector to ‘grow’ and reach its optimum potential," Dar said.
“With the help of the private sector and the LGUs, we hope to improve to the next level our produc-tivity and food supply chain through farm consolidation and clustering, provision of accessible financing, stronger linkages between production and marketing, and establishment of more post-harvest and processing facilities,” he added.
Just recently, the DA has partnered with private companies such as San Miguel Corporation, Agri Nurture, Inc., and Shell Philippines for different programs that aim to help the country's farmers during the pandemic.