The Manila Times

Digitizing, dignifying agri keys to food security

BY EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ

THE government must upgrade food systems by digitizing and dignifying the agriculture sector in order to ensure food security in the country, especially during this time of the pandemic, a renowned agripreneur said.

Cherrie Atilano, founding farmer, president and chief executive officer of Agrea Agricultural Systems International Inc., on Friday spoke at the Institute of Corporate Directors’ (ICD) online forum “Technology Governance for Directors: Sink, Float, or Swim in the Waves of E-Commerce” about how the pandemic has changed and how food systems around the world work.

“The world is changing and the United Nations coined it into food system actions that everything we’re doing right now need to be a whole systems approach. Agriculture is changing,” she said.

As agriculture is the most vulnerable sector in any country,

especially the Philippines, a lot has to be done by the national government to ensure that the farm and fishery sector will thrive and continue to provide food to Filipino households, Atilano noted.

She lamented how the Philippines suffer from the ill-impacts of natural disasters, such as typhoons and earthquakes, every year.

“The most vulnerable of every typhoon are our farmers and fisherfolk. The most affected are the producers of food . . . And it’s a crime in our humanity because they are the one producing our food,” Atilano pointed out.

One key to solve this problem, she said, is to “change the narrative of Philippine agriculture” and “make nature the center of everything.”

Globally, the average age of a farmer has reached about 60 years old. This is true in the Philippines that has recorded an average farmworker at 57 to 60 years old, Atilano said, noting that the educational attainment of farmers here is basically equivalent to a 10-year-old boy in school.

What is even worse is that “there’s no human face. It’s (referring to the agriculture sector) always measured in yield and numbers of food cultivated. There’s no presentation of how our farmers and their families are doing,” said Atilano.

This area is what the government should focus on — dignifying the sector, primarily the farmers and the fisherfolk.

“We need to cultivate human beings and this human being will cultivate the land . . . and build an ecology of dignity. What if we change how we build our economy? An economy that is built of dignity and of trust. I think that is what is missing in the sector,” she explained.

By dignifying the farm and fishery sector, the entirety of the agriculture industry — from the bottom to top — will thrive, Atilano stressed.

During the forum, the Agrea president also discussed the need for the government, particularly the Department of Agriculture, to immediately address and establish policies and strategies that will resolve the long-time issue of postharvest losses in the country. Doing so will not only provide higher income for food producers, but also create a more sustainable food system in the country, Atilano said.

“During the pandemic, we reached 75 percent of postharvest losses in the Philippines . . . we should realize how much waste we can convert to opportunities,” she said.

Business Times

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2022-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281865826862315

The Manila Times