Sadly, however, the battle is far from over. The sooner we come to our senses and seriously put our act together, the better for the country’s farmers and fishermen. As sure as the sun rises in the east, borderless trade will be the world’s future order.
Which is why it seems such a waste that after a decade of setting up safeguard measures and safety nets to prepare our country’s agricultural and fisheries sector for the inevitability of globalization, we continue to fall behind our neighbors and competitors.
In the case of the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) enacted in 1997, increased profits and incomes were promised for small farmers and fisherfolk by transforming their sectors from a resource-based industry to a technology-based industry.
The process was supposed to include adopting policies that would encourage industry dispersal and rural industrialization, and at the same time providing incentives to local and foreign investors.
Admittedly, AFMA had a difficult start. For one, it was not implemented on the first year after the law took effect because Congress failed to provide the initial P20 billion required for its first year. Out of a supposedly yearly budget of P17 billion for the subsequent years of its implementation, the actual allotment from 1998 to 2002, averaged only P14.1 billion yearly.
In the grassroots level, with the devolution of agricultural extension work from the Department of Agriculture to local government units (LGUs), the critical task of determining targets and resources to bring the ACEF funds to farmers and fishermen was not competently handled.
As a result of faulty design and half-hearted enforcement of reforms and regulatory instruments spelled out in AFMA, agricultural growth continued to be erratic. Clearly, AFMA failed to get off the ground; we are now helpless in the face of the onslaught of cheap imported agricultural goods.
Year after year, data reflects an increasing reliance on imported rice from Thailand and Vietnam resulting from the inability of domestic rice farmers, to plant better-yielding and disease-resistant varieties.
Secretary Luis ‘Cito’ Lorenzo of the Department of Agriculture has highlighted recent successes in the rice sector, although this still was not sufficient to dramatically turn the tide.
As a result of poor infrastructure and expensive transport costs, local corn farmers are powerless to compete against lower-priced imported corn that feed millers and poultry and livestock producers now prefer.
There is also a pending bill in Congress to extend duty-free incentives for importation of agricultural inputs and machinery for another five years. These privileges lapsed earlier this year.
The agriculture department is also launching several programs in support of AFMA, focusing on increasing farm and fishing harvests and the modernization of agricultural practices and methods to conform to international standards.
As a starter, he says that we are treating with kid gloves the smugglers in this country. The activity is so lucrative and pervasive that existing lenient penalties for perpetrators are definitely not sufficient deterrents. The secretary believes that more extreme penalties should be put in place to reduce smuggling particularly in the agri sector.
Secretary Lorenzo is also requesting Congress to hasten the passage of the bill that will make agricultural land acceptable as collateral for loans. And finally, he is urging the private sector to lead and be more active in the commodity boards.
And of course, the country needs to keep its vigilance in the international arena. There will be more "Cancun" battles to fight. Because no matter how much we do internally, if developed countries continue to extend preposterous subsidy levels to their farmers, we will never be able to compete.
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