THE Philippines is an agricultural country – a cliché we need to reconsider. About 40 percent of the Filipinos raise agricultural products accounting to 20 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Yet we see a dim picture of our agricultural industry. The FAO stresses we have a crisis of agriculture brought about by a decrease in productivity, low government support and high production costs. This scenario is further exacerbated by cheap imports and periodic droughts and floods.
There is, however, a glimmer of hope in the in-coming administration by president-elect Bongbong Marcos (BBM). I am thankful because he prioritizes agriculture.
“We should really learn our lessons from the pandemic. Huwag nating pababayaan yan (agriculture),” BBM said about his first moves.
In an interview, the president-elect said he will find long-term solutions. He is about to work with the value chain of agriculture – from the beginning to production and processing, down to retail. It is one of the few things he should do. Otherwise, we will find ourselves on the same treadmill.
Our previous leaders could have given the same perspective. It is disappointing to note that in the last administrations, our agricultural sector has been neglected.
Based on our country’s budget allocation for agriculture, our country only allocates 1.7 percent of our income to what brings a major impact to our economy. This is much below the 3.5 to 5 percent compared to other countries.
We are expectant of how BBM will change the value chain involved in order to end our agriculture crisis. Such needs insight and political will.
I have heard that the current budget for the agriculture sector is now at 3.5 percent of our GDP. We should celebrate this little win.
What is very crucial is how our country can maintain our food security. We cannot just do it by an executive’s bravado. What happens after BBM ends his term? Will we again face our nerves for another food crisis?
Food security is not just an executive agenda. Our lawmakers must also legislate this. We need laws to fix the budget in agriculture to 5 percent or more of our GDP. We need laws like the implementation of the Rice Industry Roadmap, which my friend Dr. Manuel Palada produced through the Asian Development Bank and the Department of Agriculture (DA). This is not yet a law but we need to legislate it to avoid wasting our energy on research and development if the next administration will politically abolish it. Its implementation now through the DA awaits the go signal of the incoming president. With laws, no president can neglect our food security if his or her mood changes where he or she then tinkers with a thousand glittering objects.
Our farming systems are still one of the least mechanized. Our farmers cannot sustain their business and would even encourage their siblings to find another profession, not farming.
We used to export rice but now we can only produce for 80 percent of the population. We trained Thailanders and Vietnamese through the University of the Philippines Los Baños, but has lagged behind these countries in terms of rice production.
Our national and local governments must become decisive in changing this scenario. Our legislators should help make us compete in agriculture.
