As part of the 2022 National Farmer’s and Fisherfolk’s Month celebration, the Department of Agriculture (DA) launched the National Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization and Industrialization Plan (NAFMIP) 2021–2030 that shall serve as directional plan for the sector’s growth in the coming years.
“This Farmer’s and Fisherfolk’s Month, we recommit to ensuring that our economy is a place where all farm and fisher communities can thrive. And it is a whole-of-government effort. Our vision of food sovereignty cannot be achieved without a mature, industrialized economy and harmonized food systems,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said during the event on May 16, 2022.
With NAFMIP, Secretary Dar said that the succeeding leadership in agriculture will not start from scratch as the plan can be further strengthened and translated into various programs, projects, and activities in the near-term, medium-term, and long-term.
“This is something else. For perspective, never has a more detailed strategic plan for the agricultural sector been drawn up since the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997,” the agri chief said.
He added that NAFMIP is an important plan because it is not just about production, but it considers the entire value chain system and even beyond food systems to ensure food security, improve nutrition, raise incomes, and achieve resiliency and sustainability.
NAFMIP can also guide the agricultural development programs and investments of partners from other national government agencies, local government units, and various stakeholders in the private sector as the plan promotes synergy.
“It is a strategic plan that defines the directions, strategies, and priorities in developing and growing Philippine agriculture with the objective that we are able to transform and unlock the potential of Philippine agriculture,” he said.
According to the DA planning team led by Policy, Planning, and Research Undersecretary Fermin Adriano and Planning and Project Development Assistant Secretary Agnes Catherine Miranda, the NAFMIP’s guiding goals are raising profitability and total incomes, promoting consumer health and nutrition, and enhancing environmental sustainability and resilience.
“I would like to assure that we’ll give first priority to really enhancing the productivity, profitability, and competitiveness of our Filipino farmers and fishers,” Secretary Dar stressed.
In view of the transition to the next administration, the agri chief expressed his hope that the hard-won reforms in agriculture be sustained and for the incoming leadership to declare that agriculture is one of the government’s topmost priorities.
He added that significant budgetary resources must also be allocated for the sector now and in the future to continue unlocking its vast potentials.
“Investing in our farmers and fisherfolk is investing in a future of economic growth and prosperity for all Filipinos,” Secretary Dar said. ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)
