HOW THE GOVERNMENT, THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THE ACADEME AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY COULD WORK TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY

HOW THE GOVERNMENT, THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THE ACADEME AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY COULD WORK TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY

It is often said that Filipino farmers cannot succeed because they lack four basic resources: irrigation, access to credit, post-harvest facilities and farm-to-market roads.

That may be true, but I believe our farmers need much more than these four resources.

Amid all the problems and bad news coming from our agricultural sector, there is a bright spot that deserves attention. It is a simple example from Tanay, Rizal, showing how the government, private sector, academe and civil society can work together.

In cooperation with the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Local Government Unit of Tanay provided mechanized shredders to Moolk Farm, a private agricultural enterprise. The machines were manufactured by RU Foundry and Machinery, Inc. of Bacolod City.

But the story does not end with the delivery of machinery.

Ramon Uy, Sr., who operates the company, also teaches farmers composting and vermiculture so they can produce their own organic fertilizers. His composting and vermiculture technologies were developed in coordination with Central Philippines State University (CPSU), through its president, Dr. Aladino C. Moraca.

Moolk Farm has also become a training facility and used its own compost to help farmers in Barangay Mamuyao, Tanay.

This is what I call coordination in action.

The money and technology are important, but coordination is what makes them work.

Interestingly, this is not an entirely new concept for the DA. The DA-BSWM has long promoted composting facilities that convert agricultural, market and household biodegradable wastes into organic fertilizer. Its guidelines specifically recognize farmers' groups, LGUs, academe and civil society organizations as potential partners and beneficiaries. 

The DA has also emphasized that recycling farm wastes into compost can reduce dependence on purchased fertilizers and even provide additional income for farmers.

So why don't we replicate the Tanay model?

Why not ask every province to identify one or more Food Security Demonstration Farms where the four sectors can work together?

The government can provide equipment, infrastructure and policy support. The private sector can provide technology, investment and markets. The academe can provide research, testing and training. Civil society can organize farmers, monitor results and make sure the benefits reach the grassroots.

Could the DA establish a national program around this four-way partnership?

I believe it could.

And perhaps Mr. Uy and other private-sector innovators could help interested LGUs learn the technology. In fact, the Tanay experience suggests that technology transfer can be just as important as technology acquisition.

Food security is not merely about producing more food. It is also about reducing production costs, improving soil health, recycling agricultural waste, creating farmer income and building resilient local food systems.

If we can make four sectors work together in Tanay, why can't we make them work together throughout the Philippines?

Perhaps the real question is not whether we have enough resources.

It is whether we know how to coordinate the resources that we already have.

This version keeps the Tanay experience as the centerpiece while connecting it to existing DA programs and the broader “quadruple helix” approach in your source. The DA’s current AMIA program likewise explicitly works with national/local governments, civil society, academe and the private sector for food security and rural development. 

RAMON IKE V. SENERES

www.facebook.com/ike.seneres  iseneres@yahoo.com  senseneres.blogspot.com  09088877282/09-02-2027

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