Agriculture Secretary William Dar urges all officials and staff of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to continue innovating its plans, programs and initiatives to better serve and empower millions of farmers, fishers, and other clienteles, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and into the “new normal.”
“We must re-think the way we do things at the Department, adapting to the changing times, with a renewed sense of commitment and urgency to remain relevant, responsive, and effective,” said Secretary Dar during the 2020 mid-year assessment of DA programs and projects on July 6, 2020.
“So much is expected of us and of the agri-fishery sector, in general, amid the immense challenges that we continue to face. And we should not lose sight of our vision of a food-secure and resilient nation, with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk,” he added.
“Together, let’s map out a more cohesive set of operational and strategic courses of action in addressing current and emerging challenges,” said the DA chief, during the meeting that gathered about 80 DA officials nationwide, half of whom were at the DA central office and the rest from their respective offices and regions who joined via teleconferencing.
He said there is a need for a stronger monitoring system to better assess the progress of various DA-funded programs and projects nationwide.
“We recognize that all these must be supported by reinforced monitoring and evaluation, and policy and planning capacities to put in place a robust and effective system. Such will help guarantee the quality of our services, timeliness of their delivery, and more accurate measurement of outcomes of our interventions,” he said.
The mid-year assessment aims to determine the progress of the implementation of DA programs and projects, in terms of meeting respective physical and financial targets. It also aims to address the causes of unmet targets and gather inputs from management on resolving slippage and moving forward.
For his part, DA undersecretary for policy and planning Rodolfo Vicerra said the mid-year gathering “places a sense of where we are at the Department, and sets a direction where the organization should go.” “It is more crucial than ever that we improve our internal coordination and absorptive capacity so we can continuously meet the demand of the general public for affordable, accessible and nutritious food at all times,” he added.
“In all, this activity is a testament of our commitment and instrumental in assessing our current position and forming a better game plan moving forward,” Secretary Dar concluded. ### (Rita dela Cruz, DA Strat Comms)
