DA to elevate private sector cooperation in sustained promotion of PH agri-fishery exports

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Trade secretary Ramon Lopez and Agriculture secretary William Dar shake hands during an EDC meeting with other DA and DTI officials
Trade secretary Ramon Lopez and Agriculture secretary William Dar shake hands during an EDC meeting with other DA and DTI officials

The Department of Agriculture (DA) wants to forge a strong partnership with the private sector—particularly on a diversified and expanded value chain from farms and fishponds to processing—to further increase the Philippines’ exports of farm and fishery products.

“We will push for more exports of farm and fishery products to propel the agri-industrialization of the Philippine countryside,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said during a recent meeting of the Export Development Council (EDC).

“We need to have a systematic and long-term strategy to develop and promote exports of both raw and processed agricultural and fishery products,” Dar said, adding that export promotion is among the eight paradigms under the DA’s “new thinking for agriculture.”

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that top Philippine agriculture exports reached US$5.875 billion from January to November 2019, with bananas accounting for 30% at $1.77 billion.

Coconut oil exports came in second, at $837.6 million during the 11-month period, followed by processed food and beverages ($726.6 million), pineapple ($545 million), tuna ($390 million), processed tropical fruits ($267 million), desiccated coconut ($227.7 million), seaweeds and carrageenan ($221.8 million), fresh and preserved fish ($214 million), and unmanufactured tobacco ($141 million).

Dar, however, challenged the country’s exporters to diversify their products and include emerging export winners like fresh and processed tropical fruits, natural rubber, and other coconut products like coconut water and coco sugar, to name a few.

“With the DA’s new thinking for Philippine agriculture, we can do much better if we bring our resources together. The way forward really is for the government to strongly partner with the private sector,” he added.

He then instructed concerned DA agencies—specifically the Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Philippine Coconut Authority, and High-Value Crops Development Program—to elevate their game in partnering with big agribusiness firms, small and medium enterprises, and organized farmers and fishers to develop more innovative and competitive agri-fishery export products.

During the EDC meeting, Dar emphasized the need for aggressive and sustained export promotion as he urged the private sector to help small farmers and fisherfolk through the “big brother-small brother” approach.

“Exports of agri products should not depend on surplus production to supply the international market. We need to have the economies of scale on-farm production that will give us sustained quantity and quality of export products,” Dar said.

PSA figures show that for the period January to November 2019, the country’s total exports amounted to $64.583 billion, with farm and fishery products accounting for 9.1% of the figure. Meanwhile, electronic products remained as the country’s top foreign exchange earner with exports totaling $36.563 billion.

Photo from DA