Agriculture and food security is such a serious issue in the Philippines. Serious enough that President BBM assumed the role of Secretary of Agriculture. Last month, AGREA Foundation, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA) conducted the Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) in the Food Value Chains in the Phillippines (Roundtable Discussion).
Cherie Atilano, AGREA Foundation President opened the discussion with Ambassador Marielle Geraedts of the Netherlands as keynote speaker who encouraged everyone for more dialogue that will lead to concrete actions, so No One is Left Behind. Ms. Nanna Stolze, coordinating Foreign Affairs Officer from The Netherlands, gave a special message on the RBC overview. Country Director Brenda Barton of the World Food Program spoke on Food Security and Nutrition in Challenging Times. “Today’s affordability problem” she says, “can be a tomorrow’s availability problem if no concrete actions are taken.”
Eva Galvez Nogales, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Officer encouraged RBC in the agricultural value chains from production, aggregation, processing, and distribution while Kathleen Ramilo of FAO Philippines shared their best practices on Agro-diversity in IP Communities. Rosalyn Mesina of UN Women spoke on the Women Empowerment Principles and on the presence of women throughout the value chain as producers, business owners, executives, employees, distributions, suppliers, consumers, even major decision influencers.
The afternoon was lively with panel discussions on Best Practices on Value Chains moderated by Cherrie and the Role of Digital Technology in Food and Agriculture Value Chains moderated by PPSA Country Director Amy Melisa Chua.
The discussion achieved the following:
- Bring together strategic stakeholders in the food value chains in the Philippines. It was an excellent venue for networking among the groups.
- Discuss issues on responsible sourcing, rural employment, women empowerment, environmental practices, and risk based due diligence.
- Promote agricultural trade and economics; specifically identifying opportunities for women
- Provide an avenue for collaboration among government, private sector including civil society to commit and integrate RBC into their practices
Invited organizations to lead and practice, champion RBC in addition to AGREA, Netherlands Embassy, PPSA, UN Women, were Women Biz Phils., Filipina CEO Circle, Go Negosyo, Planters Products, Connected Women, SEARCA, Dutch Chamber of Commerce among others.
In conclusion, Cherrie highlighted the key factors that business should prioritize: Society, Technology, Environment, and Politics or STEP. She said that “every business owner should be intentional in their work and make a conscious effort to increase youth and women participation in the food and agriculture value chain.”
Overall, it was a day well spent having a roundtable discussion on Philippine food value chain.
On Vanilla
The top two most expensive spices in the world are saffron and vanilla. As Vanilla has demonstrated its adaptability in the Philippines, Vanilla has now been included in the list of high value crops in the Philippines. It is a baby industry and just starting. The goal is to start it right and with the newly formed Vanilla Industry Development Association (VIDA) led by President Basil Bolinao, directors Pabs Villegas, Arsenio Toto Barcelona, Dr. Rey Lantin, CorSec Edgar Tarriela. The first Natural Farming and Jadam ultra low-cost technology with Vanilla propagation seminar sponsored by the Agri Training (ATI) with VIDA and Flor’s Garden was held recently facilitated by Natural Farming gurus Andry and Joji Lim and by Maila Villela Toreja of Villelas’ Farm. It was well attended by farm owners: Maria Diaz, Ed Cleofe, CJ David, Sheena Tolentino, Monina Atienza, Noemi Tirona etc. A good start for the vanilla industry with foreign buyers already touching base through the Dept of Agriculture though the industry is just starting. We look forward to a bright industry in the years ahead.
Christmas is just around the corner. Let us remember the reason for the season!
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Ms. Tarriela is former Chairman of Philippine National Bank. She was formerly Undersecretary of Finance and the first Filipina Vice President of Citibank N.A. She is a trustee of FINEX and an ICD Fellow. A gardener and an environmentalist, she established Flor’s Garden in Antipolo.