FAO and Philippine stakeholders agree on country-specific agriculture, food security priorities to help steer FAO development agenda in Asia-Pacific
FAO and its partner stakeholders in the Philippines have agreed on a suite of country-specific priority technical areas that could help in the development of the agency's regional agenda, which will be discussed during its high-level Asia-Pacific Conference in March. The identified priority areas for the country ranged from enhancing the resilience of food systems in the context of the pandemic, to integrating inclusive digital innovations in agriculture.
The recommendations were a result of the country consultation organized by FAO-Philippines on 22 February in which FAO and stakeholders collectively identified country-specific issues and priorities related to agriculture, food security, and associated areas that would help inform FAO’s regional development agenda in the next two years. These identified priorities will feed into the high-level discussions at the 36th Session of the FAO Asia Pacific Regional Conference (APRC), which will be held from 8 to 11 March 2022 in Dhaka, Bangladesh via hybrid (virtual and in-person) modality.
Priority areas identified for the Philippines include: (1) assessing food and nutrition programs in response to COVID-19 pandemic; (2) strengthening local production to meet local food security needs; (3) developing and deploying inclusive and accessible digital innovations to improve market linkages, meet food demand, and improve the productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers/fisherfolk; (4) regional collaboration on R&D initiatives on emergencies and disasters to improve the resilience of agri-food systems; (5) harmonized metrics on corporate net-zero announcements; (5) cross-country coordination and collaboration on disease surveillance, prevention and control, particularly related to illegal movement of agricultural produce; (7) exploring land tenure to promote climate-resilient agri-food systems; (8) exchanging best practices through knowledge sharing and policy dialogues; and (9) enhancing the role of local governments in agricultural development and food security in light of legislation devolving more power and resources to them.
FAO, through its Philippine country office, has been contributing to the wider regional results and priorities as guided by its Country Programming Framework (CPF), which is being updated. The recommendations from the consultation, coupled with the updated CPF, will help FAO further refine its interventions to more appropriately respond to current needs and realities in the country as well as in the region.
The regional conferences are an important component of FAO’s governing policy. Here, FAO’s overall policies and regulatory frameworks are defined and its Strategic Framework, Medium-Term Plan, programme of work and budget are established. These conferences also contribute towards the oversight of the administration of the organization.
The country level consultations, as requisite to the regional conferences, was initiated by FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu in 2020 to ensure continued relevance of FAO’s work in the countries and regions where it operates. It serves as a venue to gather perspectives from stakeholders on topics to be discussed in the regional conferences, thereby fostering greater ownership and buy-in of outcomes, as well as to share and promote appreciation of FAO’s work and experiences on specific region-wide areas of technical focus, among others.
The Philippine country-level consultation, held virtually, was attended by 103 representatives from 19 government agencies, four civil society organizations, two private sector groups, and FAO-Philippines staff. To ensure the alignment of national priorities with the APRC, officers from FAO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific presented on technical topics to be discussed at the regional conference. These included the state of food and agriculture in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting climate-resilient agrifood systems, identifying One Health priorities, and scaling up inclusive digitalization in agricultural value chains.
Government agencies represented at the country consultation included the Climate Change Commission, Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department of the House of Representatives, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Tourism, Mindanao Development Authority, National Economic and Development Authority, National Nutrition Council, Office of the Cabinet Secretary, Philippine Commission on Women, Philippine Embassy in Rome, Philippine Statistics Authority, Senate of the Philippines - Economic Planning Office, and Ministries of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy, Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, and Ministry of Social Services and Development).
Also at the event were the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development, Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas, and the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas representing civil society organizations.
Representing the private sector were the Philippine Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Inc.