The Philippine agriculture sector could reach its full potential if it adopts modern practices and redefines strategies to address long-standing challenges, according to Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion.
Concepcion said such an approach would require embracing science and innovation, implementing policy adjustments, and attracting investments from both the public and private sectors.
“The Philippines has an incredible stock of agricultural resources that can easily sustain industries and create jobs, yet we have only scratched the surface of its potential,” Concepcion said. “We need to achieve higher agricultural productivity and inclusive growth across all stakeholders in the sector. The key to achieving this is enabling our farmers to become agri-preneurs.”
Agriculture is a key sector in the Philippine economy, contributing 9.1 percent to its GDP in 2022 and employing more than 10 million Filipinos. Although the sector plays a crucial role in the economy, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority indicate that it experienced a negative growth rate in the second quarter of 2024.
Concepcion said the urgency of boosting the country’s agriculture and achieving food security has only increased following recent supply chain disruptions and the increasing consequences of the climate crisis.
Go Negosyo senior adviser and former Agriculture Secretary William Dar, in a speech before key representatives from the Philippine and European governments at the recent 2024 Agri Sustainable Forum organized by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, pointed out numerous factors that impeded the growth of the sector.
He said these include the prevalence of small farm holdings, protectionist trade policies, limited climate resiliency implementation, limited access to financial resources, and the lack of post-harvest and other infrastructure facilities.
Go Negosyo advocated for increased agricultural productivity and entrepreneurship through KALAP (Kapatid Angat Lahat sa Agri Program) in the past two years.
It expanded this advocacy to the ASEAN region through the ASEAN Food Security Alliance (AFSA) this year, which is implemented through the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.
“We have initiated steps to scale up agriculture through big-brother investments,” Concepcion said, referring to the more than 50 large agriculture companies that have signed up to make smallholder farmers part of their value chain, particularly in commodity crops. KALAP has gotten the support of 18 government partners and 24 commodity industries.
AFSA, meanwhile, comprises leading Philippine corporations in agriculture and their ASEAN counterparts. The alliance was formed to develop cooperative relationships within the public and private sectors to ensure food security for the entire ASEAN region.
Within just a year of its formation, AFSA has already completed a successful agriculture trade mission to Malaysia, which resulted in follow-through projects in agarwood, durian, and bananas. An upcoming trade mission to Laos PDR will tackle similar partnerships in rice, durian, coconut, poultry, banana, agarwood, and biofertilizer.
Go Negosyo is also pursuing policy reforms and partnerships. These include a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Agrarian Reform to support agrarian reform beneficiaries through cluster and corporate farming and land lease agreements for agriculture development. It is also co-developing, through KALAP, a tailored finance model for smallholders and replicating existing credit schemes for various commodities.
