Re-energizing Philippine

Agriculture
for the ASEAN Economic
Integration
WILLIAM D DAR
Director General, ICRISAT

ASEAN Economic Community

(AEC) 2015
Free trade + effective policies =
promise of inclusive growth and development

Is Philippine agriculture ready for

AEC?

The Philippine agriculture

scenario

GDP contribution of agriculture

Net food exporter to importer

since late 1980s
Important to food security and
economy

Main source of domestic foods

Employs 11.8 million or 35.1% of total
workforce

Poverty in rural areas

11% of GDP in 2012

From 20 to 30% in last two decades

Half of 100 M live in rural areas

80% of countrys poor

Dominated by smallholder
agriculture

Performance of Philippine
agriculture

Daunting task producing more food

from less land and water

Imports as alternative food sources

World price spikes jeopardize food security

Threatens livelihoods of smallholder
farmers

Rice production serves to

meet food security goal

Rice, one-third of harvested area (2011)

Followed by coconut and corn; far behind,
banana
and sugarcane

Crops account for 60% of agricultural

GVA

Shift to high value crops crucial

Trade in agricultural
commodities

Exports
growing,
imports
growing
faster

Imports,
mostly driven
by rice, soared
in 2008

95% selfsufficient in rice

(2011)
Top export
earner, coconut
oil (26%)
100% selfsufficient in
corn

AEC regional integration

pillars

Challenges under AEC (1)

Single market and production base

pillar

Food, agriculture and forestry are priority

sectors
Removal of tariffs to boost agricultural trade
Harmonization
of quality
management
systems for
food safety

Review of
Philippines
progress in meeting commitments
under AEC

45.7% in AEC scorecard; average ASEAN

Challenges under AEC (2)

Factors limiting gains from

globalization

Low investments in infrastructure;

Lack of political will to implement a sustained
and credible fiscal reform program;
High transaction costs; and
Lack of a coherent industrial policy.

Current strategy highly conservative

Prioritizes traditional crops

Production targets only close domestic supplydemand gap
Policy protects domestic markets with tariffs
and non-tariff barriers.
Import substitution agricultural development

Good governance, committed

leaderships with political will for

Major opportunities for Phil

agriculture (1)

Creating a diversified, dynamic

and competitive agriculture
sector
Overcoming non-tariff barriers by
modernizing agricultural
enterprises

More capital, better input use and

technology packages

Enhanced regional cooperation in

dismantling
non-tariff barriers

GAP, GAHP, GHP, GMP and HACCP

Major opportunities for Phil

agriculture (2)

Technology transfer and farmers

access
to knowledge and scientific
research

Collaborative R&D among membercountries

Global networks in agricultural S&T

Promoting efficiency and

competitiveness in agriculture

Freer flow of capital and investments

Expanding production to take advantage
of potential economies of scale
Greater market access and better
processing facilities and roads
Information and transport services

A New
Philippine Agriculture
Roadmap under
the AEC Platform
Towards an
inclusive, sciencebased, resilient
and marketoriented Philippine
agriculture

Are we ready to take advantage

of,
or even just survive and compete
under the AEC regime?
Rice production in 2013 = 18.44 M tons,
8% less than FSSP target of 20 M tons.
Resilience in production of food staples to
the impacts of climate change has yet to
be addressed.
Agricultural and food policies must adopt
a holistic approach.

Enabling strategies for a holistic,

agriculture-led economic
growth

1. Technology development

. Improves yield, quality and value of produce

. Prevents losses and conserve the environment
. Results in improved productivity, profitability,
competitiveness and sustainability

2. Public and private investments

. Physical infrastructure, rural credit, human capital
and institutions essential for agricultural
modernization

3. Inclusive Market-Oriented Development

(IMOD)
. Linking farmers and small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) to markets
. Enhanced public-private sector collaboration

4. Reforms in governance

Focus areas under an AEC

regime (1)
1. Balance between rice self-sufficiency and
crop diversification
. Self-sufficiency in rice production along with
diversifying into high-value crops with
comparative advantage

2. Sustainable resource management

. Land use plan, soil and commodity mapping,
water management

3. Linking farmers to markets (IMOD)

. Giving farmers access to innovations designed for
the poor, to help them connect to markets
. Building their own resilience rather than creates
dependency

IMOD: A new approach

Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD)

Climate change adaptation

for smallholder, rainfed
agriculture

Focus areas under an AEC

regime (2)
4. Developing climate-smart agriculture
. Increasing stocks of livelihood capital and
biophysical resilience of the system

5. GAP, sanitary and phytosanitary standards,

and HACCP compliance
. Harmonize standards; develop exporters
capability to conform to SPS and NTBs

6. Innovative use of ICT in knowledge and

information sharing
. Leveraging the power of
ICT to support smallholders
in processing, marketing
and realizing market
opportunities

Focus areas under an AEC

regime (3)
7. Increase in public investment to
attract
private sector participation
More public investment to attract
more flow of private capital to ensure
sustainable economic growth by
increased volumes of trade

8. Enhanced role of youth in

agriculture
Promoting profitable and modern
productivity augmenting livelihood
projects
Education system to address agriinnovations, entrepreneurship and
agri-business, etc.

9. Championing appropriate

Sustainable and inclusive

growth
of smallholder agriculture

Investments in smallholder agriculture

Can lift people from poverty and food insecurity

Under AEC, must become active players in the
supply chain

Smallholder farming can transform

rural landscape

A new and sustainable agricultural revolution

Needs policy environment to support and nurture
them
Can become commercially-oriented and profitable
farming

Food security for all

24% of families (4.3 million households)
are hungry due to rising food prices
How do we feed the projected 150 million
Filipinos by 2050?
Under the AEC, food security through
regional trade and cross country
cooperation to raise productivity must be
our top priority.

A Five-Step Plan to Feed the World

(National Geographic Magazine)

Step 1: Freeze agricultures footprint

Step 2: Grow more on farms weve got

Step 3: Use resources more efficiently

A Five-Step Plan to Feed the World

(National Geographic Magazine)

Step 4: Shift diets

Step 5: Reduce waste

Feeding the hungry is not a

need,
but a moral imperative.
We have to make Philippine
agriculture competitive.

Thank
you!
ICRISAT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium