AS a result of the Middle East war, any attempt to introduce “Big Bold Reforms” (BBR) for agriculture under the incumbent administration has become unrealistic for two main reasons.
One, the efforts and attention of the government cannot be diverted to other issues whose resolution will take some time to produce positive results. The war in the Middle East is threatening economic and political stability, which requires the undivided attention of leaders.
Two is that the administration has barely two years left in its term. Instituting BBR will require sufficient time to be properly implemented and its positive effects might only be felt after a couple of years or more. Implementing it now will also surely upset the bureaucracy because significant operational changes will have to be made. In a situation wherein unity and teamwork are vital to cushion the impact of the Middle East war, the government can ill-afford division within the rank and file.
Given this context, the utility of following the BBR recommendations lies foremost in their serving as reminders for future policy makers on what needs to be done to make the agricultural sector efficient and competitive. Note that these prescriptions are a distillation of my almost half a century of being both a mentor and student of agricultural development.
There are two key learnings that I gained from years of tackling agricultural and rural development issues: First, the government, particularly in a Third World country like the Philippines, is highly inefficient. The bureaucracy is ossified and corrupt and it is an exercise in futility to expect it to become entrepreneurial and innovative.
Second, only by working through and with the market can sustainable growth be achieved because this results in greater efficiency and competitiveness. The proper role of the state is to address market imperfections or distortions or when there is market failure. This role is best captured in the economic principle that President Fidel Ramos subscribed to, which is “ensuring a level playing field.”
Given my professional background, I do not carry the baggage of interest groups such as peoples’ organizations, civil society, political parties or more so private interest groups that analyze problems and solutions through the prism of parochial interest. Being primarily an academician affords me the luxury of examining the problem in an objective fashion, concerned not only about its impact on the sector that will be affected but more importantly its effects on the overall economy.
After all, the cardinal principle in sound decision-making is that policy should obtain the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people. Not just the farmers nor the fishers and — more importantly — not just the politicians and business interest groups but the vast majority of the Filipinos.
The recommendations will be divided into two groups: short term (which can and should be implemented immediately up to two years); and medium term (from year three to six).
A BBR for agriculture must start with a reform which will trigger further desired changes and affect a huge segment of the population in rural areas. It is for this reason that my foremost recommendation is the widespread application of digital agriculture in the Department of Agriculture (DA).
What does this entail? A robust farmers and fishers registry should be completed as soon as possible as its formulation has been ongoing for almost 15 years now. Completion should be outsourced to a third-party reputable firm that can resist maneuverings from politicians, both in the DA and particularly at the local government level, to include loyal supporters in the list despite being non-eligibles.
Satellite or drone imaging of the farms of those in the list and geotagging should complement the effort in cleaning the registry. Regular weekly satellite/drone monitoring will provide data on what is happening in these farms, particularly before and after destructive typhoons.
The solid information on what is actually transpiring will encourage private insurance companies to expand coverage because of lower risks. Moreover, with the same robust data set, one can now easily persuade private banks to expand their agricultural lending operations because information on what is actually occurring in those farms is available.
Digital agriculture can also serve as an effective instrument in promoting farm clustering and consolidation. Instead of in-kind subsidies, the DA can provide these in the form of cash or vouchers to farmers, provided they organize into associations or cooperatives wherein the members’ lands are contiguous to each other. The National Irrigation Administration’s irrigators associations can serve as pilots for this innovation.
The argument that subsidies cannot be given because the DA is trying to promote a single rice variety for a sizeable farm area to facilitate harvesting, drying and milling through its Rice Processing Centers has been shown as wrong by the previous experience of the National Food Authority. Several such processing centers established, one in almost every region, in the past. Only a few remain operating, and at way below capacity — monuments of the inefficiency and wasteful use of scarce resources.
Digital agriculture can also be applied in determining when and the amount of agricultural commodities that should be imported. All one has to do is to input supply and demand data, harvesting and planting seasons of the commodity involved, historical data on importation, etc. With this, artificial intelligence can provide rational decision points on the best time to import and the volume to be imported.
India has adopted this scheme in their importation and tax collection system. The result is a substantial rise in revenues and the assurance of a steady supply of necessary imports that can stave off a supply shortage. Expectedly, corruption was significantly minimized.
In short, digital agriculture is transformative because it minimizes corruption, ensures that only eligible beneficiaries are provided assistance, promotes greater efficiency and productivity, and lead to a streamlining of the fat agricultural bureaucracy.
fdadriano88@gmail.com
