The recent official visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to the United States has yielded tangible benefits for the country not only in terms of enhanced defense cooperation, but also in promoting over-all economic development.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the visit to Washington DC may well be our agricultural sector.
A significant outcome of the talks between the leaders of the two countries was an agreement to set up a minister-level mechanism on agricultural cooperation.
The partnership was sealed during a meeting between President Marcos and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials led by Secretary Thomas Vilsack.
The meeting with the USDA, the President said, was important as the country wanted to address food supply shortages in the country particularly during the lockdowns at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was crucial for him, therefore, to assume the post of Agriculture Secretary “because agriculture is a very complicated issue especially in the Philippines.”
During the meeting, the Philippine side expressed keen interest in forging mutually beneficial agreements to strengthen agriculture research and capacity-building initiatives for the further development of biotechnology in the country. We also argued for expanding market access of Philippine agricultural products to the US.
USDA officials, on the other hand, said they looked forward to strengthening knowledge transfer between the US and the Philippines and continued cooperation on agriculture innovation systems.
The Food Security Dialogue between the two countries also explored ways to further boost cooperation on capacity-building and technology support since the Philippines wanted to build effective and efficient supply as well as value chains and increase exports of agricultural commodities.
The dialogue was intended to assist the country in strengthening research and development in the agricultural sector, particularly on biotechnology centers, geospatial databases, climate-proof facilities, and information services and make the sector prepared to cope with the challenges in the post-pandemic period.
The reality is that agriculture has been the consistent lowest contributor to the Philippine economy at an average of 9.92 percent yearly against the industry and services sectors that contributed 30 percent and 60 percent on average, respectively.
What should be done by the government at this point is to boost agricultural production by providing vital support services to farmers, such as credit, farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities, farm management skills, and marketing information.
These support services will go a long way in improving the quality of life of our farmers, reducing rural poverty and achieving the goal of food security for the long term.