The Manila Times

FAO report can help make PH agri more resilient

Promote resource use efficiencies.

THE United Nations-Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report dated March 2023 that gives a rather comprehensive assessment of the country’s farm and fishery sector, which I believe should provide guidance to the Department of Agriculture (DA) in crafting, refining and implementing its numerous programs.

Titled “Rapid Assessment of the Philippine Agri-Food Systems, its Vulnerability and Resilience to the Impacts of the 5F Crisis,” it stated that the country is not yet sufficient in rice, onion, chicken, corn, coffee, garlic, peanut and mungbean (“munggo”), while there is a surplus for bananas, pineapple, mango, shrimps and prawns, and crabs, that the report said are potential export commodities. It also noted decreases in the production of beef, pork and dressed chicken. 5F stands for food, feed, fuel, fertilizer and finance.

The FAO report also said that the Philippines ranked 67th out of 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index for 2022. I am glad to note that the report ranked the Philippines as the highest in “Affordability” due to the following factors, and let quote them exactly from the report: stable consumer prices; a low proportion of the population living in poverty; relative ease of agricultural commerce; and a healthy food safety-net program.

However, the report said that the country was worst in the category of “Sustainability and Adaptation” receiving a weak score of 41.8. Factors cited were risks to water supply for agriculture, deterioration of land and threats to marine biodiversity.

The FAO also said that there was an increase in the number of outbreaks of animal and plant pests, and diseases like the avian influenza in 2017, and African swine fever and fall army worms in 2019. And let me add that there were episodes when some coconut farms were hit by the “kulisap.” The damages caused by pests and diseases amounted cumulatively to P1.94 billion, the FAO said.

Going further into the report, it stated that the “biggest losers” were the small food producers. “Smallscale agricultural producers (farmers and fishers) carry the burden of costs from the price hikes as they are unable to fully transfer the costs to the next value chain player. They also have more limited coping and adaptive capacities because of their precarious socioeconomic standing. The resilience of the agri-food systems in the Philippines lies in protecting and supporting small-scale farmers and fisherfolk,” the FAO said.

The consequence of that is households with agricultural livelihoods encountered problems accessing food more frequently compared to their counterparts in on-agriculture households.

A mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping or mVAM analysis showed that 72 percent of agricultural households in the Philippines “said their incomes either decreased or remained stagnant, leading twothirds to have reduced ability to access food.” However, the report also stated that the majority of them reported increased food spending in their households.

Recommendations

To address the issues raised by the FAO report, the following recommendations were made. Let me also give my own inputs on the recommendations.

Monitor the 5F Crisis, other shocks and stresses. Data and developments on the 5Fs are readily available from the internet and social media, and experts can be mobilized to gather and analyze the data. From gathering and analyzing data, the impact of the 5F Crisis can be identified and dealt with.

“It is very important that the country proactively tracks not only the impacts but also the dynamics of the shocks and change drivers themselves,” the FAO said.

Link monitoring to anticipatory action.

This means becoming proactive in dealing with potential 5F shocks. FAO recommends an early warning system (EWS) supported by interagency coordination.

“An effective EWS with accompanying interagency decision-support platforms can maximize the reach and improve evidence-based targeting for actions supported by disaster risk reduction and management funds,” FAO said.

This will need a concerted effort to train farmers on efficient use of resources, and developing and applying technologies related to that.

Also, programs like the DA’s Balanced Fertilization Strategy should be upscaled nationwide as this reduces the inorganic fertilizer requirement for growing crops. The FAO lauded this program in its report.

“There should be more of these efficiency promotions for other agricultural inputs, as well as promotion for helpful technology and innovative farm practices,” FAO said.

Boost facilitation of domestic and international access to raw materials and input ingredients. This will require diplomatic efforts to forge stronger ties with countries that have abundant supply of fertilizers like Canada, Russia and China, among others. Also, the DA should also prioritize the local production of affordable quality seeds so these can be readily available for use by smallholder farmers.

The FAO also recommends increasing local fertilizer and feed production, with the latter needing a boost in the production of corn, cassava, copra, among others.

Continue provision of agricultural subsidies to small-scale agri-food producers. This was done during the Covid-19 pandemic and should be sustained by the DA. The subsidies can also cover fuel since the number of farmers using modern agricultural machines is increasing.

Mobilize shock-responsive and targeted social protection interventions for vulnerable groups. This applies to smallholder farmers and fishers, and also to Indigenous peoples and women in agriculture. For this recommendation, I would also recommend affordable crop insurance for food producers.

FAO said that providing immediate assistance through social protection interventions is less costly compared to dealing with the social consequences caused by food insecurity, especially among the vulnerable groups.

Address long-standing structural constraints of the agriculture sector.

FAO identified the following priority actions that I fully support: facilitate access to credit and capital among smallholder producers; organize farmers into cooperatives or associations so they can collectively procure their inputs/needs and market their produce; promote agriculture business growth and agribusiness development; and invest in transport connectivity and logistics for major farm commodities.

I also recommend getting local government units involved in undertaking those priority actions under the Province-led Agriculture and Fishery Extension System that I discussed in my column last week (May 18, 2023).

Firm up national food production strategy that matches desired nutrition outcomes. This means producing commodities that meet the nutritional requirements for all Filipinos, including those from the marginalized sectors, and that economic growth should also take into account ensuring the country’s food security.

Create shorter food value chains and disperse food distribution systems. The FAO pointed out that since the Philippines is an archipelago, food production should be localized to avoid the need to transport commodities over long distances, which can increase food prices.

Also, food distribution systems should be “dispersed” and strategically located to benefit both producers and consumers. The DA pushed hard for this during my watch by establishing food trading posts in select parts of the country, like in the Cordillera, that is a major vegetable producer.

In conclusion, much still needs to be done to make the country’s agriculture sector and food system more resilient to both external and internal shocks.

But I must say President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ensuring a higher budget for the DA starting from 2023 and taking into consideration the recommendations of the FAO are good steps to making the Philippine agri and fishery sector more resilient and productive.

Agribusiness

en-ph

2023-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281904482545817

The Manila Times