IF the Philippines and other Asian countries are keen on addressing poverty and income inequality, governments must increase investments in small farmers.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan said the importance of small farms and small farmers cannot be overlooked.
Balisacan, a poverty and agriculture expert, cited data from the World Census of Agriculture which reported that 90 percent of 428 million agricultural landholdings in Asia are small farms.
“In Asia, which is home to around 4.4 billion people, including two-thirds of the world’s undernourished, the majority of people living in poverty rely on these small farms for food. Thus, potentially, further development of the agriculture sector, specifically the small farms that constitute it, could redound to rural-welfare improvement and poverty alleviation,” Balisacan said in a video message for the 8th International Conference of the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
Balisacan, who is also ASAE president, said small farms are the major sources of raw materials for agribusiness and manufacturing industries in the region.
He said agricultural commodities eyed for exports are good sources of foreign-exchange earnings to finance capital accumulation needed for industrialization.
As a result, there is a need to strengthen smallholders’ agricultural performance so that small farms can continue their role as the backbone of rural economies and a key vehicle for more rapid poverty reduction.
Balisacan recommended policy levers to further develop the initial conditions that would facilitate pro-poor growth.
He also said agricultural investments in adaptation to help farmers improve land management, adjust their planting dates, and introduce new crop varieties are increasingly becoming important, especially in the context of climate change.
“Interventions should be focused on improving farm productivity, especially in areas where topography is not conducive to agriculture. It is also very important to facilitate the linkage of smallholders to supply chains and markets and overcome the threat of climate change,” he said.
The ASAE International Conference is conducted every three years, and participated in by agricultural economists, development practitioners, policy-makers, academicians, researchers and students from all over the world.
The 2014 Conference intended to address issues on wages, constraints in agricultural investment, adoption of improved technologies and productivity, and public policies to address constraints of small farms in Asia.