Gov't urged to invest more in agriculture to attract the youth

  • 6 July 2017

Source: ABS-CBN News
4 Jul 2017

The Philippines should invest more in agriculture to attract a younger workforce, a think tank said Tuesday.

The farming sector faces a potential labor shortage with the average age of workers in the industry at 57, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture consultant Bernie Justimbaste said.

"In some countries for example comparatively, like Thailand, Malaysia, [they] have their unique programs like young farmers training program. It's a big-budget program where they encourage and give incentives for young people to go into agriculture," he said on ANC Early Edition.

"But of course it's a reality now that most of our young people don't want to go into agriculture but rather go to other areas... so government has to do a lot of investing," he said.