I love that Roadmap image of "Advancing Digital Financial Inclusion For Smallholder Farmers" by USAID & mSTAR (crowd360.org), because it emphasizes Roadblocks we have been ignoring about PH farming:
(1) Not competitive
(2) Inappropriate credit products
(3) Women disempowered
(4) Postharvest losses
(5) High costs of inputs
(6) Lack of savings
(7) Weather risks.
In his today's Manila Times column, "The 'New Thinking' For Agriculture" 4th of 4 parts (manilatimes.net), William Dar wishes for a "Roadmap for Philippine Agriculture" (my coinage). Nobody is talking about a Roadmap while everybody is talking about solutions to problems – The Adventurer's Approach. Without a Roadmap, you will be solving problems along the way – without knowing where you are going!
Along the way from here to there, Mr Dar wants the country to double the income of farmers and fishers – within at least 5 years. He says:
An agriculture sector where the smallholders become prosperous and are lifted out of poverty would become one of President Duterte's greatest legacies.
We should all be thinking of legacy. At 79, you don't have to tell me!
The roadmap should be guided by the following goals: increased productivity, profitability, competitiveness, sustainability and resilience.
No Roadmap, as of today. In PH agriculture, we are just wishing good luck for the farmers, not actually working for and with them to make their dreams come true.
"We" should include the government and the private sector, Mr Dar says:
The formulation of the roadmap should also involve smallholder farmers/fisherfolk, local government units, state colleges and universities (SCUs), civil society groups, and the private sector.
The farmers & fishers must be active workers in their own behalf. And these should be their active allies: LGUs, SCUs, civil society groups, businessmen - all part of the team to draw up the Roadmap leading to:
The farmers & fishers must be active workers in their own behalf. And these should be their active allies: LGUs, SCUs, civil society groups, businessmen - all part of the team to draw up the Roadmap leading to:
Productivity – Our farmers must increase the yield of rice. They must increase the variety of their plantings to high-value crops. They must increase their products out of their produce.
Profitability – Our farmers must increase their income from their labors. They must get what they deserve as workers of the soil.
Competitiveness – Our farmers must contend with other farmers from other countries because the reality is that Filipino farmers are more expensive in their farming than the Vietnamese and the Thais – shame on them! And to think that the Philippines is supposed to have the best agricultural university in Asia!
Sustainability – Our Filipino farmers must be able to sustain in their endeavors their productivity, profitability, and competitiveness.
Resilience – Our farmers must be able to bounce back from adversities, natural or man-made.
To fund travels within the Roadmap, Mr Dar suggests "Higher budget and investment for Philippine agriculture" in these terms:
With a forward-looking Philippine agriculture that has a roadmap, the government jointly with the private sector and with the strong and popular support from the citizenry, must provide the necessary budget and investment to grow and develop Philippine agriculture.
Now, why is that PH Agriculture Roadmap missing? It can only be explained by poor leadership, starting from the top!517
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