Agri high on ASEAN integration agenda

  • 22 August 2017

Source: The Philippine Star
20 Aug 2017

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has rolled out a project that aims to help farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs to fully tap the ASEAN as an integrated and single investment destination.

Launched on Aug. 10, the project "Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the ASEAN Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns (ATMI-ASEAN)" aims to strengthen capabilities of institutions toward inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia.

Asia's large and growing population, coupled with rising incomes and a burgeoning middle class, continues to drive demand for food and agricultural commodities and resources.

SEARCA has placed integration of agricultural markets high on its policy agenda. An integrated agricultural market will allow ASEAN-based com- panies to access raw materials, production inputs, services, labor, and capital wherever in ASEAN they choose to set-up their operations.

ASEAN firms also get to save on production costs, focus on their specialization, and/or maximize economies of scale without necessarily leaving high potential market areas within the region.

SEARCA said unless national concerns on food security and smallholder inclusiveness are credibly harmonized with the ASEAN competitiveness agenda, progress in regional agricultural and food markets would be limited and vulnerable to sudden disruptions.

It is against this backdrop that ATMI-ASEAN was crafted to assist in preparing national and regional roadmaps for the development of key regional food and agri-based value chains as well as developing mechanisms for improved coordination between national and ASEAN food reserves and food security policies.

The five-country project also aims to inform the process of harmonization of food safety and quality standards, and improve cooperation in R&D to improve practices in key agri-based and food value chains. It is funded by the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Its bottom line is to enhance the capacity of ASEAN Member States (AMS) to identify and design national strategies, policies, programs, and national agri-food value chain investment initiatives that benefit small-scale rural producers.

"The ATMI-ASEAN project aligns well with SEARCA's thrust to promote regional integration and cooperation towards inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development (ISARD), which is the centerpiece of SEARCA's current five-year development agenda," said SEARCA director Gil Saguiguit, Jr.

Saguiguit noted that the project's goal is to come up with institutional and policy reforms that shall "ensure competitive participation and greater benefits for smallholder farmers in the regional agricultural and food markets."

The government agencies involved at the inception workshop included the Department of Agriculture, Board of Investments, Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Philippine Rural Development Program, Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries, National Economic and Development Authority, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, and the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Agriculture Undersecretary Evelyn Laviña presented DA's current initiatives to improve the country's agriculture sector. These include the shift to high-value crops, mechanized farming, development of a national color-coded agricultural guide map, and crafting of roadmaps and commodity value chain research, among others.

The workshop enabled the participants to understand structural transformation and market integration as these relate to agricultural growth and food security in the Philippines. They leveled off on what the project intends to achieve and the roles of stakeholders. They also identified promising commodities for regional and global value chains.

Aside from sharing their insights, the participants helped craft the action plan for implementing the project in the Philippines, with particular attention to areas of policy study and identification of priority commodities for value chain research.