DEVELOPMENT partners and sectoral players, led by the South Korean Embassy, called for collaborative efforts to address the Philippines’s pressing issues in agriculture.
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) local office jointly hosted the climate-talk webinar series: “Climate Resilient and Sustainable Agribusiness: MSMEs and Value Chain Innovation in the Philippines.”
Industry leaders from the public and private sectors, as well as domestic and international organizations—including the Department of Trade and Industry, the World Bank, the United States Embassy in the Philippines, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), and Nestlé Philippines participated in the recent virtual meeting.
“[The series was] designed to build a closer coordinating platform, which will accelerate climate actions among development partners,” said Lee Kyoo-ho, the embassy’s consul general.
The discussion addressed major issues in terms of employment, poverty reduction—particularly in the context of the pandemic, as well as climate-change adaptation and mitigation.
According to the embassy, 24.8 percent of total national employment in the country—equivalent to 9.75 million Filipinos—is anchored in the agriculture sector, which contributes only 10 percent to the local gross development product.
Likewise, the value of agricultural production declined by 1.2 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic. Majority of the poor, moreover, are found in rural areas where agriculture is the dominant source of livelihood. Farmers are also improperly compensated in the value chain.
“There is a need to forge a partnership to support…innovation and upgrading of agriculture-value chains toward resiliency, sustainability and digital transformation,” highlighted Trade Undersecretary Blesila Lantayona.
KOICA Country Director Hwang Jae-sang shared the grant-program agency’s current value chain-focused project collaborated with GGGI in Oriental Mindoro, which “provides direct investment and technical support to…agri-[micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as farmers living below the poverty line. It also] develops an online tool that will provide an analytic and objective basis for planning, in relation to climate vulnerability and risk for the agriculture sector.”
PBSP Executive Director Elvin Uy also noted the key role of a convenor, influencer and implementer who can quickly respond to the needs of marginalized groups in the said industry.
According to Climate Watch, the local agricultural front accounts for 26 percent of the country’s greenhouse-gas emission. It is included as one of the main sectors in the Philippines’s nationally determined contribution submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Ryan Bedford, acting agricultural counselor for the US Embassy, highlighted his government’s efforts on the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate initiative. He also introduced innovative approaches applicable locally, such as an artificial intelligence-based app which can diagnose crop diseases for banana farmers.
Angel Bautista, corporate affairs executive for Nestlé Philippines, presented the company’s pledges to achieve “Net Zero” by 2050 through three impact areas: responsible ingredient sourcing, transforming of operations, and shaping a waste-free future. She also shared the “Nescafe Plan”—the flagship initiative on rural development which has trained more than 8,000 farmers since 2012.
In terms of climate impact, the agriculture sector is the most vulnerable in the Philippines, which has faced frequent typhoons, floods, and drought. According to one research, the annual net-welfare loss of the sector due to the climate crisis is $64 million per year, based on the International Food Policy Research Institute. Thus, the enhancement of adaptive capacity is important to prevent the exacerbation of risks.
Eli Weiss, World Bank Philippines senior agriculture economist, shared the experience of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP)—the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) flagship project with national-level financing of $850 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The program is dedicated to science-based planning based on vulnerability analysis, infrastructure development, and enterprise development.
Weiss stated the “DA-PRDP takes [on a holistic approach in promoting sustainable and equitable growth in productivity, as well as the] income of farmers and fisherfolks responsive to climate impact.”
Finally, Kim Ju-hern, GGGI’s country representative who moderated the session, added “there is still untapped opportunity in the sector…related to agri-tech innovation and green entrepreneurship acceleration ecosystem, which can mobilize private-sector investment.”
“Development partners and private sectors need to further collaborate to design bankable projects in the [agriculture sector, which will create a bigger impact to address…economic, social and environmental issues surrounding it],” said Lee.
The participants agreed that well-crafted government policies, together with catalytic investments from donors and private entities, can accelerate the sustainable transition of Philippine agriculture.