A think tank has identified self-contained food production areas and other pockets of innovation and development as the solution to improving the country’s agricultural sector.
“I actually no longer believe in a countrywide reform and that an overnight change in our economic and political sectors will happen,” said Dr. Carlos Primo “CP” David, a trustee of the Stratbase ADR Institute, and convenor of Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST).
The food production areas, he said, consists of industrial farms or large swathes of land using mechanized farmed, as well as the surrounding small older farms that could actually operate together with industrial farms.
“Within the food production area, there has to be a farm school for training the next generation of farmers and food producers because this is one other issue. I see in the sector wherein obviously, you are not earning a lot from agriculture – then many people shy away from this sector—therefore we have to revive that by establishing farm schools. The private sector can help establish processing plants within that self-contained area,” David said in his paper.
David launched his study during a recent virtual town hall discussion organized by Stratbase ADR Institute.
He said that beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, Philippine leaders have considered agriculture as a third-world endeavor, and opted for industrialization at the expense of strengthening the agriculture sector.
He said this bred social inequalities like farmers not owning the land they till, as well as inefficiencies in food production.
“In terms of food security and in economic terms, we are at the mercy of the producers, the countries that produce these commodities,” David said.
The idea of food production areas, David said, combines commercial production on the industrial scale with small older farms, training, as well as food processing and storage.
“Industrial-scale farms should be able to co-exist and not compete with smallholder farms if pre-established site-specific agreements are made. In fact, what is envisioned is a symbiotic relationship between corporate and farmer owned farms in a designated food production area,” he added.
“A climate-resilient agriculture sector should be one of the goalposts of any climate adaptation measure,” David pointed out.
“I believe that through this strategy, we can start realizing, actually, the initial idea of government – the one town one product idea – this I think should be the foundation of that,” he said during the launch.
Meanwhile, Professor Victor Andres Manhit, president of Stratbase ADR Institute, said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the country’s “crippling problem of inequality.”
“While such inequality is an accepted reality in life for many Filipinos, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this predicament. Long, stringent, and large-scale lockdowns imposed by government, which were intended to curb the spread of the virus, also resulted in the sharp rise in unemployment, closure of businesses, alarming inflation rates, an economic recession, and other economic insecurities,” Manhit said.
According to him, only a small segment of society was prepared to deal with the shock.
He said the next President would inherit the enormous task of addressing the country’s socio-economic challenges.
“We need a leader who acknowledges the important role that the private sector plays in development, especially through their investments across a wide range of sectors,” he stressed.
Francisco del Rosario Jr., chairman of the Institute of Solidarity in Asia, talked about the different causes of poverty. He identified three causes– self-serving leadership, poor public service, and corruption and greed.
He presented an ideal situation for the Philippines where every government institution delivers, and every citizen participates and prospers – the lives of Filipinos should be “matatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay.”
He added that environment, social justice and governance are important areas to ensure that the business sector and the country can progress in the correct direction, which is basically inclusive growth.
Other speakers during the forum who also launched their papers were Dr. Ronald Mendoza, Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, Dr. Charlotte Justine Diokno-Sicat, Research Fellow of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and Vice President, Philippine Economic Society (PES). Mr. Christopher Tan, Chief Operating Officer, PHINMA Education and Board Member, Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities, was stakeholder reactor.