Policy changes to boost agriculture – Concepcion

GO Negosyo founder Jose Ma. "Joey" Concepcion III on Thursday said the country's agriculture sector could reach its full potential if it redefines strategies and adopts modern practices. Concepcion, the Private Sector Advisory Council Jobs Committee lead, said such an approach requires embracing science and innovation, implementing policy adjustments, and attracting investments from the public and private sectors. "The Philippines has such an incredible stock of agricultural resources that can easily sustain industries and create jobs, yet we have only scratched the surface of its potential," he said in a statement. "We need to achieve higher agricultural productivity and inclusive growth across all the stakeholders in the sector," he said. Agriculture contributed 9.1 percent to the country's gross domestic product in 2022 and employs more than 10 million Filipinos. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority indicates that agriculture posted negative growth in the second quarter of 2024. Concepcion said the urgency of boosting the country's agriculture and achieving food security has only increased following recent supply chain disruptions and the increasing consequences of the climate crisis. In a speech before the representatives from the Philippine and European governments at the recent 2024 Agri Sustainable Forum organized by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Go Negosyo senior adviser and former Agriculture secretary William Dar pointed out numerous factors that have impeded the growth of the sector. These include the prevalence of small farm holdings, protectionist trade policies, limited climate resiliency implementation, limited access to financial resources, and the lack of post-harvest and other infrastructure facilities. Go Negosyo has advocated for increased agricultural productivity and entrepreneurship through its Kapatid Angat Lahat sa Agri Program (Kalap). This year, it expanded the advocacy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region through the Asean Food Security Alliance (AFSA), which is implemented through the Asean Business Advisory Council. "We have initiated steps to scale up agriculture through big-brother investments," Concepcion said, referring to the more than 50 large agriculture companies that have signed up to make smallholder farmers part of their value chain, particularly in commodity crops. Kalap has gotten the support of 18 government partners and 24 commodity industries. AFSA, meanwhile, comprises leading Philippine corporations in agriculture and their Asean counterparts. The alliance was formed to develop cooperative relationships within the public and privateectors to ensure food security for the entire region. Within just a year of its formation, AFSA has completed a successful agriculture trade mission to Malaysia, which resulted in follow-through projects in agarwood, durian and bananas. An upcoming trade mission to Laos will tackle similar partnerships in rice, durian, coconut, poultry, banana, agarwood, and biofertilizer. Go Negosyo is also pursuing policy reforms and partnerships. These include a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Agrarian Reform to support agrarian reform beneficiaries through cluster and cooperative farming and land lease agreements for agriculture development. It is also co-developing, through Kalap, a finance model for smallholders and replicating existing credit schemes for various commodities. "The key to achieving this is enabling our farmers to become agri-preneurs," Concepcion said.