The Philippines has a population that is dependent on the agricultural sector for its livelihood. 60% of the Philippine population lives in the rural areas where the prevalence of poverty is the highest. The only way to bring inclusive growth t many Filipinos is by boosting the agriculture industry.
Sen. Grace Poe noted that the average age of the Filipino farmer is 57 years old. “If no one would go farming anymore in the next generation, where shall we get our food and how about the food security in our country?,” Sen. Poe said during the 17th Mango and Bamboo Festival helt at San Carlos City, Pangasinan last April 25, 2017.
Sen. Poe said that we need to raise a new generation of farmers that will employ modern technology and boost crop yields. This also dovetails with her encouraging farmers to be “agripreneurs” themselves so as to earn more revenues for themselves.
The festival was a good way to promote farming and agricultural ingenuity and Sen. Poe cited San Carlos City as one of the primary trading centers in bamboo products as well as one of the top producers of the “Kalabaw” mango variety.
In order to provide the necessary help to agriculture, Sen. Poe has filed the Corporative Farming bill (Senate Bill 341) which seeks to boost public-private partnerships to enhance productivity in the agriculture sector, as well as the proposed Integrated Urban Agriculture Act that aims to promote food production in urban areas, and the Credit Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolks which seeks to amend the Agricultural Land Reform Code by requiring the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to reserve 10 percent of its loan portfolio for agricultural projects.
The livelihood of the people in the rural areas will benefit if such assistance is provided particularly to small farmers and micro, small and medium-scale enterprises.
Sen. Poe stated that “This, my citymates, is what I want for our country: that all shall benefit from the resources of the country, all are robust and healthy and everybody is capable to achieve his or her dream because the government is concerned and gives what’s due them”.
Only if the rural population have gainful employment and livelihood in the agricultural sector will there be tru inclusivity in the growth of the economy and will drastically reduce the incidence of poverty nationwide aside from giving national food security.
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