EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - National Agricultural and Fishery Council ...

14. AFMA Period. From 1999-2004, the sector registered a relatively
impressive growth of 4.1 percent per year. The strong performers were
several crops, poultry and fishery.
15. In terms of contributions to growth, some 57 percent of the growth
between 1993 and 1997 came from crops, 24.6 percent from poultry, 23.5
percent from livestock and 7.9 percent from fishery. Forestry and
agricultural activities and services had negative contributions. Meanwhile,
between 1999 and 2004, the growth contribution of crops dropped to 42
percent. The same was true for poultry and livestock. Fishery,
meanwhile, managed to increase its share to 33.7 percent.
16. The numbers showed that during the pre-AFMA period, market-driven,
private sector-led commodities contributed over half of growth, primarily
other crops, livestock and poultry. Palay also provided solid contribution.
By contrast, during the AFMA period, the market driven, private sector-led
commodities (livestock, poultry and more so fishery - mainly seaweeds)
provided the buoyancy.
17. Relative to selected country competitors, the Philippines’ agriculture
performance was not far behind compared to the 1980s. In 1993-1997, it
fared better than Malaysia and Indonesia. While it posted the worst El
Niño contraction in 1998, it managed to bounce back in the succeeding
years, still surpassing the two countries. Thailand and Vietnam, though,
were far better performers all throughout.
18. The nagging question is the high incidence of the poor in the rural sector
where agriculture is the primary occupation. Poverty is an agriculture
phenomenon (Senator Edgardo J. Angara, c. 2000). This makes
agriculture both a threat to growth and an opportunity.
Overall Productivity
19. The growth of agriculture labor productivity in the country, as represented
by the agriculture real value added per worker, improved from 0.7 percent
per year in 1993-1998 to 1.3 percent per year in 1999-2002. Growth,
however, lagged behind other Asian countries. In 1999-2002, Philippine
growth was only a third of Thailand, a fourth of Vietnam, and a little over a
fifth of Malaysia.
20. Meanwhile, in terms of land productivity, as measured by agriculture real
value added per hectare, growth averaged 2.2 percent in 1993-1998,
accelerating to 7.4 percent per year in 1999-2002. Performance was
significantly better compared to its Asian counterparts. This could imply
that agriculture growth in the Philippines could be driven more by yield
improvements (e.g. through the use of better varieties) rather than area
expansions, especially in 1999-2002. However, its land per worker was
declining faster than its Asian neighbors.
xxvi