6th ASAE International Conference - "How can we improve farmers' access to credit?"

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"How can we improve farmers' access to credit?"

Tuesday, 02 September 2008

DA Secretary Arthur Yap This was one of the questions that the Philippine Secretary of Agriculture, Arthur C. Yap raised to 300 agriculture experts attending the 6th Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE) International Conference, Thursday in Manila.

Secretary Yap lamented that farmers in the Philippines face a lot of constraints in their bid to increase income and productivity. They are the first ones to suffer with high costs of inputs and that there is a need to have some strategies to lower, for example, price of fertilizer.

In the same note, SEARCA Director, Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan and ASAE President, Dr. Jamalludin Bin Sulaiman, emphasized that agriculture must be given priority, as this sector is crucial to birthing another economic renaissance in the coming decades.

On the recent issue of food price crisis, Dr. Balisacan underscored the importance of agriculture as still the basic key to lifting the rural poor out of poverty and to fueling economic growth.

In need of a new miracle to usher economic renaissance, Dr. Sulaiman said that governments need to treat agriculture not as a savior during economic crisis only, but also as a pillar that must be given priority.

Drs. Yang Boo Choe, Jamalludin Bin Sulaiman and Arsenio Balisacan Leading agricultural experts who presented their papers in the Conference were Prof. Peter Timmer, Stanford University; Prof. Keijiro Otsuka, Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, Japan; Dr. Mark Rosegrant, International Food Policy Research Institute; Dr. Prabhu Pingali, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Prof. James Roumasset, University of Hawaii; Prof. Jikun Huang, Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Beijing; and Dr. Shabd Acharya, Institute of Development Studies, India.

This year’s theme of the ASAE international conference is on The Asian Economic Renaissance: What is in It for Agriculture?

Launched in 1991, ASAE is an association of agricultural economists and other professionals with special interest on agricultural economic issues and affairs. Every three years, it conducts the ASAE International Conference participated in by agricultural economists, development practitioners, policymakers, academicians, researchers, and students from all over the world. (Lorna Calumpang, SEARCA-KRU KMD)

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