The Duterte administration was prodded on Thursday to pour more energy and resources on the agriculture sector to propel inclusive growth and ensure food security.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara suggested that the key lies in government increasing investments in the agriculture sector.
“If we invest more on revitalizing the agriculture sector, we provide not only food stability for the country’s growing population, but also jobs and livelihoods for millions of Filipinos dependent on agriculture,” the senator said.
For instance, Angara cited Pangasinan, which, he noted, has a land area of 536,819 hectares, 44 percent of which is devoted to agricultural production of major crops including rice, mangoes, corn and sugarcane.
The senator issued the statement after attending a campaign sortie in Pangasinan organized by pro-administration Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) political party, led by presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who endorsed Angara’s reelection bid in the upcoming midterm polls.
Angara said that, apart from infrastructure development, the country “needs nothing short of an agricultural revolution,” which the Duterte administration can spearhead alongside its “Build, Build, Build” initiative.
“An agricultural revolution is necessary to help revive the agriculture sector and improve the lives of impoverished farmers and fishermen, who belong to 60 percent of the country’s poorest,” said Angara, adding: “Where there’s Build, Build, Build, there should also be ‘grow, grow, grow’; ‘plant, plant, plant’ or even ‘fish, fish, fish.’”
To drive home his point, Angara cited government records that agriculture remains of crucial importance to the economy, even as its relative contribution to GDP has been declining over the years. He noted that from 1998 to 2009, the sector accounted for 13 to 14 percent of the total GDP, but steadily declined to 10 percent in 2017.
“By investing heavily in agriculture,” Angara said, “the government would be able to make the country’s economic growth more inclusive or felt by a larger population.”