“We need to think long-term.”
The agricultural sector is often regarded as a resilient sector among others. However, when agriculture is negatively hit, the impact definitely reverberates across all sectors. This is why when the COVID-19 pandemic aggravated the country’s existing problems on food security, we struggled to keep everything afloat.
We all know how COVID-19 paralyzed our agricultural sector. While farming activities were allowed due to the safe physical distancing innate in those activities, the limited mobility and cross-border restrictions severely disrupted the supply chain. Farmers were forced to sell their produce at significantly lower prices, while some were constrained to dispose of their excess harvest since there was no way for them to make it to markets.
The procurement of agricultural outputs by the national and local government units early in the pandemic helped in mitigating the losses brought by supply chain blocks. Meanwhile, the financial and credit assistance extended to farmers, fishermen, livestock and poultry farmers, and agri-entrepreneurs cushioned the effects of the restricted farming and trade activities caused by lockdowns, community quarantine, and limited mobility across regions. However, despite the support received by our farmers, we still have setbacks to deal with.
Hence, food security should take precedence among the priorities in the coming years. As we move towards lenient alert levels in the absence of the Omicron variant, I am hopeful that, somehow, the agricultural sector shall manage to regain momentum. However, such small progress must be sustained in order to fully recover and, finally, achieve food security.
For this reason, we need to think long-term for the coming 2022 elections. Candidates all promise good futures, but where do we really need to start? Focusing on agriculture—a resilient and vital economic sector—will facilitate progress. Securing the food supply chain will trigger a domino effect on the livelihood of many Filipinos. When farmers have continuous production, there will be steady food supply, operational businesses, and food on every Filipino family’s table.
While we are hopeful to gradually have more COVID-free days and weeks, we cannot expect that this pandemic will totally be over in a year or less. Hence, it is important to highlight the value of food security. We need inclusive policies that will help address the current problems of our local farmers. We need social protection for farmers and support from local governments. Lastly, we need improved systems for a sustainable and more efficient food supply, rain or shine.
With this, we need leaders who are equipped with the right mindset and right plan for agriculture and the country’s overall recovery. I urge the Filipinos to personally assess and actively scrutinize the priorities of our candidates. I encourage everyone to be diligent enough to pick your own choices, and not decide merely on your local leaders’ say-so.