DA partners with WEF-Grow Asia

The Department of Agriculture has formalized its partnership with Grow Asia Agriculture Forum through the newly formed Philippine Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA), which it hopes will become a venue for investments in food and agribusiness ventures in the countryside.

Initially, DA and Grow Asia are looking at coffee, cassava, corn, coconut and fisheries as focus commodities, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

Companies that conveyed their interest to take part in PPSA included Syngenta and Nestlé Philippines.

DA said in a statement that the partnership would bring together players in the agricultural value chain—including government, domestic, regional and multinational companies, multilateral and civil society organizations, farmers, consumers and entrepreneurs —to support existing and new rural-based enterprises.

“Our goal is not merely to survive and endure during these challenging times, but to flourish and sustain—for the prosperity of the sector, notably smallholder food producers,” Alcala said.

The collaboration is timely given that the government looks to private local and foreign enterprise for much of the capital and initiative in opening up rural enterprises and new lands for cultivation, Alcala said.

“We welcome Grow Asia and the New Vision for Agriculture of the World Economic Forum, and their help for us to come up with a Philippine model similar to that of Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar) and Indonesia,” Alcala said, referring to the earlier partnerships created under the auspices of Grow Asia.

Grow Asia is an adjunct event of the WEF Forum on East Asia, where Alcala has also participated.

Groundwork already started for the new collaboration. A consultation meeting cum briefing with stakeholders and possible investors was held on April 13 in Quezon City.

Among the agreements were the creation of a national secretariat that will coordinate all efforts and plans for PPSA, as well as a core committee to represent various stakeholders.

Initial screening of applicants for the national secretariat is ongoing.

The secretariat will be based at DA’s central office in Quezon City.

Alcala was one of the resource speakers during Grow Asia’s open plenary on April 19 along with Vietnam’s Minister Cao Duc Phat of Agriculture and Rural Development and other government and business leaders.

In his remarks, Alcala shared the Aquino administration’s milestones in the agri-fishery sector, including unprecedented harvest of rice and corn, and more sustainable fishing grounds through the implementation in 2011 to 2014 of closed season to regenerate fishery resources.

“In fact, Grow Asia’s goal of transforming the lives of 10 million smallholders in Southeast Asia by 2020—through improvement in income and productivity—echoes the Philippine government’s strategies to attaining inclusive prosperity,” he said.

Alcala likewise took part in Grow Asia’s breakout session on the Philippine partnership as well as on inclusive financing, along with other members of DA’s delegation for the two-day event.

The delegation included Undersecretary for Field Operations Emerson Palad; Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development Orlan Calayag; Director Shandy Hubilla of the Philippine Rural Development Project Luzon-B Cluster; Special Agriculture Attaché Ana Gracia Maria Abejuela; and Department Legislative Liaison Specialist Mc. Bien Saint Garcia.