By Rodel Alzona & Danielle Gabriel
THREE countries are saying that, for the Philippine agriculture sector to grow, the government should look at strengthening the country’s farm cooperatives.
Separately, Israel, France and Canada said a strong farm-cooperative system can assist farmers in the country.
Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute Water, Cleantech and Agro-technology Department Director Gilad Peled said farm cooperatives are a political issue but it is a win-win situation if the government, farmers and new technology could be brought together.
“The Philippines is an agriculture country, and it needs to prepare for the future. The government should assist farmers. They should be subsidized. Small farmers do not have money. They should also have new technology and educated on their use,” Peled added.
He said local farmers should learn new ways on postharvest facilities, food security, increasing shelf life and saving water.
Peled added that the Philippines has the potential to produce more and even export its agriculture products but it has to be a holistic approach.
For his part, Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau said a farm cooperative is the preferred system in Israel, and they are more than willing to share their inputs.
However, he clarified that what exactly works in Israel would not necessarily work in the Philippines.
“You cannot copy the Israel agriculture sector in the Philippines. What you can do is adaptation,” Matityau said.
He added that small- and medium-scale enterprises are the economic engines of a country and that small farmers should be converted to commercial farmers.
The Israeli Embassy recently brought to the country eight agriculture-technology companies to explore possible partnerships with local companies.
Meanwhile, French Ambassador Thierry Mathou said farm cooperatives can assist small farmers in the country.
“It might be a solution as there are a lot of small farmers and they all can join together. Anything that can be done to strengthen the farmers will be good,” Mathou said.
He added that by forming them into groups, the farmers can gain access to tractors and big equipment, which can be used in their farms.
“Find ways for them to stay on their farms and profit. They have to live on their farms and not come to Manila looking for jobs,” Mathou said.
He said France is very much willing to share its expertise with the Philippines in the agriculture sector.
Mathou also spoke of France’s interest in developing green cities and promoting clean energy from solar, wind and sea. According to the French envoy, after the climate-change talk that was held in Paris last December, the next step would be implementing the ideas and projects discussed.
“All that I mentioned, including energy and green city, everything is in line with the Paris conference. But even if it was a great success, it is only a conference. Now we have to implement. You need more energy in this country with 7,000 islands, and the best way to give energy to different islands is to bring solar, wind energy and energy coming from the sea,” Mathou said.
He added: “We have small and medium enterprises that specialize in using energy from the sea. When we think of energy, of course, we want to create new power plants, but a very good way to fight climate change is to reduce consumption, and we have companies that are able to install specific systems, for example, in malls, to reduce the levels of consumption and electricity.”
For his part, Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines President Julian Payne said that, aside from farm cooperatives, the government should develop farm-to-center roads and cut off the middleman from the system.
“The government should allocate investment for the sector. It should also keep farmers abreast on modern technologies,” Payne said, while also citing the high cost of electricity and the abysmal state of some of the farm-to-market roads.
He described the country’s agricultural sector as having huge potential, but still very much protectionist.
The government currently has the Agrarian Reform Communities Connectivity Economic Support Services, which provide farm cooperatives with access to machineries to improve productivity.
The Philippine agriculture sector currently accounts for only 10 percent of the country’s GDP but represents 30 percent of total employment.
Image credits: Rodel Alzona, Nonoy Lacza
1 comment
We have to reverse the agrarian reform program. Its anti-agriculture. It failed in all the countries it was implemented. The only countries(Japan, S. Korea, & Taiwan) that “succeeded” only succeeded politically but failed economically and had to reverse its chopping up of lands into tiny plots to re-plotting and re-consolidation. Zimbabwe has been hurt so bad that it is undergoing hyperinflation; its money lost value; the once food basket is now a basket case. China killed close to twice the population of the entire Philippines when they implemented theirs under the Great Leap Forward. Russia starved to death 10 million Russian citizens. Our country is 50years behind our neighbors because nobody would like to invest in our agriculture when government guaranteed that no one can own or lease more than 3-5 hectares; no room for expansion or growth.