Commodity councils can increase the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) competence and should thus be fully supported.

Last Nov. 21, at the 25th anniversary of the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) ably led by Danilo Fausto, 300 agribusiness leaders from 48 agriculture subsectors all over the country met to discuss improved governance. They did acknowledge and appreciate, however, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.’s new direction for the agency.

At that meeting, Tiu Laurel announced the formation of commodity councils. Later, in a press release, the DA explained that “it is looking at establishing consultative councils to create a more inclusive and effective approach to agriculture policy-making and addressing an assortment of challenges.”

These councils will have representatives from the DA, agribusiness (e.g. PCAFI), farmers and fisherfolk (e.g. Federation of Free Farmers) and other key stakeholders “to collaborate on the development of policies and strategies that respond directly to the sector’s pressing problems.”

The agriculture budget has increased significantly to P197.8 billion this year. But the results fall short of the new expectations.

To meet its targets, the DA must do things right (decrease corruption) and do the right things (increase competence).

Corruption and competence

Tiu Laurel is swiftly addressing these two issues.

For corruption, he promised to decrease the DA’s alarming 30-percent nonliquidation rate, which was seen in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 budgets. This was officially reported by the Commission on Audit.

Nonliquidation often means corruption.

For competence, he is harnessing private sector participation to allow for transparency and cooperation. The DA must listen to them to find out their real needs and recommendations.

The DA has very competent people, but if they do not listen to the private sector (as they have done in the past), this competence cannot be harnessed optimally.

This is where the commodity councils come in. These councils, composed of two members from the DA and eight from the private sector, will meet every month. Each council will report to an undersecretary or assistant secretary.

Their reports will then be given directly to the agriculture secretary for his consideration and immediate action. These high-level monthly reports will cement the strong private sector participation in agriculture governance.

Past record

In two out-of-town meetings on Nov. 22 and Dec. 15 in 2022, the Philippine Council of Agriculture and Fisheries sectoral committee chairs approved unanimously that they should meet with their DA counterparts on a monthly basis to ensure that private sector inputs would be addressed. The DA, sadly, had other priorities.

The agriculture secretary will now address this important neglected issue, particularly in the context of agriculture road maps.

These road maps can still be improved with more privatesector input and ownership, especially in the marketing component.

In addition, the proposed appendix to the road map, which identifies priority short-term actions needed to achieve targets, will have to be implemented.

Sans these priority actions, most of the recommended road map implementation teams were never formed. These road maps tragically remained mere pieces of paper.

By improving the road maps and the appendix on priority actions, the commodity councils can now be guided on what to recommend monthly to the DA secretary.

As we continue to address corruption, we must also address competence. Private sector participation, done through the commodity councils, will go a long way in justifying future agriculture budget increases.
INQ