The Department of Agriculture (DA) has highlighted the need for more public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the agriculture and fisheries sector to help boost the country’s agricultural production.

“PPP is really the way we need to go,” Agriculture Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, and Regulations Mercedita Sombilla said during the recent PPP forum organized by the DA- Project Development Service (DA-PDS).

While acknowledging that the private sector may not be enticed in agriculture because of its vulnerabilities especially with climate change, she challenged the forum participants to think of out of the box strategies and projects that are beneficial for both parties.

“I hope that as we continue to have fora like this in the future, we can develop more and more PPP projects that will really push the agricultural sector further than what we really target,” Sombilla said.

“We have a PPP Unit in the DA and I hope that all our regional offices will also have a conscious effort to really look for projects that we can implement through PPP,” Sombilla said.

She also stressed the need for more PPP projects to help the government and for the local agriculture and fisheries sectors to move towards industrialization.

During the forum, PPP Center Capacity Building and Knowledge Management Service director Feroisa Francisca Concordia discussed the Philippine PPP Program, concepts, processes, legal frameworks, capacity building frameworks, and updates on the PPP Code of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, DA-Investment Programming Division chief Joseph Manicad discussed the National Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization and Industrialization Plan (NAFMIP) 2021–2030.

He also identified major challenges and opportunities for growth and other appropriate and relevant strategies for the sector.

Moreover, DA-PDS Project Identification and Evaluation Division Chief Rowel Del Rosario presented PPP opportunities in the sector such as  terms of establishing production and postharvest facilities, agri-fishery industrial business corridors, and agriculture and fisheries laboratories and testing centers, among others.

DA Undersecretary for Finance Agnes Catherine Miranda, DA Undersecretary for Livestock Deogracias Victor Savellano, DA-Legal Service Director Willie Ann Angsiy, DA-PDS Director Fernando Flores, DA-Regional executive directors, and officials and representatives of DA bureaus and banner programs also participated in the forum.

The DA-PDS organized the forum to discuss PPP projects that will help boost the country’s agricultural production.

In the third quarter of the year, the country’s agricultural output declined by 0.3 percent as the crops and fisheries sectors recorded lower outputs, according to latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). This marks the second consecutive quarter that farm production declined.

The value of agriculture and fisheries production amounted to P412.41 billion from July to September. This was lower than the 1.2 percent decline in the second quarter, but marked a reversal from the 1.6 percent growth registered in the same quarter last year.

However, from January to September, the country’s farm output inched up by 0.2 percent.