Neda chief seeks increased support for small farmers

Small farmers in the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia need “greater support and opportunities” for them and their larger communities to rise out of poverty, according to National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director-General and Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

“In Asia, which is home to around 4.4 billion people, including two-thirds of the world’s undernourished, the majority of people living in poverty rely on these small farms for food. Thus, potentially, further development of the agriculture sector, specifically the small farms that constitute it, could redound to rural welfare improvement and poverty alleviation,” Balisacan said during the 8th International Conference of the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE) held in Bangladesh on Oct. 15.

Balisacan, who is also ASAE president, noted that the vast majority or 90 percent of the 428 million agricultural landholdings in the continent were farms smaller than two hectares, citing data from the World Census of Agriculture.

He said most raw materials for agribusiness, manufacturing and exports production were being sourced from small farms, which are “not homogeneous” but “have the potentials to improve production performance and be transformed into commercially-oriented and profitable farming systems.”

In this regard, Balisacan said there was a need for more investments in agriculture as well as pro-farmer policies.

“Interventions should be focused on improving farm productivity, especially in areas where topography is not conducive to agriculture. It is also very important to facilitate the linkage of smallholders to supply chains and markets and overcome the threat of climate change,” he said.

“The increasing complexity and diversity of the environment in which smallholders now exist would not warrant a single policy, but rather a mix of interventions. What is important is that these interventions holistically address the needs of the poor in the agricultural sector and expand opportunities for smallholders to take part in the growth process,” he added.

Support to small farmers is important as the agriculture sector increasingly gets linked with other more modern industries, especially in developing countries, Balisacan said.