EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - National Agricultural and Fishery Council ...

CHAPTER 4. AFMA COMPONENTS
28. This chapter covered a review of the nine plus two additional AFMA
components.
4.1 Marketing and Information
29. Agriculture and fish marketing faces many challenges along their
supply/value chains. The dominance of unorganized, dispersed and small
producers is a key factor. Unorganized producers affect scale and result in
high cost, uneven quality and poor supply responsiveness, and limited
access to timely information. There is also the high supply chain cost due
to transport costs, assembly costs, and quantity/quality losses.
30. Globalization provides many marketing opportunities as well as
challenges. Market size and segments are far bigger and the buying
power of the consumers is much higher in the foreign markets. But
markets are also more competitive as trade barriers are lower. At the
same time imports have increasingly encroached into the domestic
market. Under this liberal regime, producers must be organized across
the supply/value chain keeping in mind cost, quality, reliability and
responsiveness, and product innovation.
31. At the same time, technical barriers to trade continue to hobble export
trade. Some countries have now more stringent minimum levels and
minimum residue levels. The lack of agreement under the WTO Doha
Round is a “missed” opportunity as the parties failed to agree on: reduction
of subsidies in developed countries; tariff reduction; and non-agriculture
market access.
32. The role of the government, particularly the DA, LGU and the Legislature
is to provide the enabling environment for producers (including small
farmers and fisherfolk) and investors in the supply chain. Investment is
the driver of economic growth and job creation. Without investment in
agriculture and fisheries, stagnation and rural poverty will be exacerbated.
Government must focus on what it can do best: making the goods and
information highway efficient, freeing the land market, enhancing security,
and improving resource use. The private firms know the market better and
have comparative advantage in choosing the right investment.
The Philippine Farm Sector
33. The Philippine farm sector is dominated by small holdings. In 2002, there
were 4.82 million (M) farms covering 9.67 M hectares (ha), with average
size of only 2 ha. Some 40 percent of the farms were less than 1 ha (with
8.6 percent of area), 41 percent of farms were 1 ha and below 3 ha (31
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