Empowering mayors to help farmers

Can a town or city mayor lead a community to uplift the plight of farmers?

To many, the answer is a resounding “no.” That is why there is a significant clamor for the 17,000 agricultural extension workers to revert back to the supervision of the Department of Agriculture (DA). These same people unfairly place much of the blame for our country’s agriculture failure on the mayors. They say that several mayors use the municipal agricultural extension workers for non-agricultural purposes.

The good news is that many other mayors deploy their extension workers effectively. They are thus able to fulfill their mandated role of pushing the community’s agricultural development. Since the passage of the Local Government Autonomy Code, it is now the local government unit (LGU), not the DA, which has this function. They know their municipalities better than the DA, and can therefore more effectively deliver agricultural support services.

The bad news is that there are still many mayors who fit the unfair stereotype of exploiting agricultural extension workers.

But one cannot blame these mayors completely, simply because they have not been properly empowered.

Synergia, led by Haydee Yorac leadership awardee Milwida Guevarra, shows an excellent model of mayor empowerment.

During its 10th anniversary celebration last September 18, impressive gains in educational attainment were highlighted due to the involvement of the different sectors in the community in attaining the educational objective. It was not just the Department of Education (DepEd), but the combined contributions of the DepEd, the parents, other government bodies, NGOs and others sectors that accounted for their success. It does “take a village to raise a child.”

But catalyzing the many successes are the mayors. This did not happen accidentally. Synergia launched a program to systematically empower these mayors for effective educational governance.

Former Mayor Jesse Robredo’s recommendations on mayor empowerment were highlighted. Measurable criteria and achievement targets were identified and developed with the mayor’s key contributions for each municipality. Good performance was rewarded accordingly.

Robredo then used this approach in the very successful “Good Housekeeping” rewards for deserving municipalities when he became DILG secretary.

A few months before his death, I talked with Robredo about mayor empowerment for agricultural governance. He supported this wholeheartedly, but died before he could implement it.

The DA 2011 budget more than doubled to P38.5 billion compared to a few years earlier. For 2013, the planned budget for DA, including its attached agencies, is P72.9 billion. DA used only 69 percent of its budget last year, leaving P12.2 billion untouched.

We recommend that an adequate portion of this budget be allocated to an effective program empowering mayors for agricultural governance. An outside expert group can be utilized to generate creative and effective recommendations.

The Synergia model and Robredo’s insights can be modified and adopted where applicable. Orientation sessions should be conducted with governors, followed by action planning with mayors on a province-wide basis with the governor, the DA, and the legally mandated government-private sector Agriculture and Fisheries Councils (AFCs) participating fully.

Other suggestions may include a municipal agricultural plan with measurable criteria and achievement targets, periodic progress reports, Robredo’s “Good Housekeeping” approach applied to agricultural governance, and the corresponding larger DA budget allocations for the better-managed municipalities.

Today, there is no significant program for empowering mayors for agricultural governance. This is a valuable legacy that DA should establish during the Aquino administration.

(The author is chairman of Agriwatch. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail [email protected] or telefax 8522112.)