Agriculture department readies ‘dashboard’ to aid policymaking

MANILA  -The Department of Agriculture (DA) is developing a transparent and well-grounded database that will guide the agency in the decision-making process involving the essential agriculture sector, a ranking official said.

Agriculture Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla said her unit, the DA’s Policy, Planning and Regulations office, is coming up with a dashboard that will enable public and industry stakeholders to access various data such as supply, demand, price, production and import volumes.

“I’m hoping by the third quarter I will already have an operating dashboard for supply and demand, for prices, and inputs for the public,” Sombilla said.

The DA would be able to come up with projections for a specific period and make the necessary adjustments, if any, once the official data from the Philippine Statistics Authority comes out.

“I think what we really need is transparent, well-grounded data and information that would convince stakeholders that what DA is really doing is not really just because we want it done but because it is all based on what is happening,” she added.

DA is seeking assistance from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank and Asia Pacific College to set up the database and train employees.