Philippines: Rice Crisis Shows Agri Modernization Program Failed – Ocampo

House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur C. Ocampo today assailed the 10-year old government’s Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997 or Republic Act 8435 as a complete failure as exemplified by the looming rice crisis in the country.

Ocampo said that “the Filipino people are now bearing the burden caused by the government’s so-called agricultural modernization program.”

The May 2007 “Final Report: Experts’ Review of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act” submitted by the Center for Research and Communication Foundation, Inc. to the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization, states that “AFMA can be faulted for over-commitment and trying to do many things with too many agencies, and saddled with lack of resources. In the process, it faltered in implementation.”

After a decade of AFMA’s implementation, the report also described Philippine agriculture as “predominantly small, unorganized farm holdings.”

The final report, a result of almost two years work – from research and interviews to consultation workshops in 16 regions, also showed that majority of the stakeholders, mainly agricultural producers, had not achieved modernization of agriculture and fishery, did not enhance profit and incomes, failed to ensure accessibility, availability and stability of food supply. (See Box)

Ocampo said that “for AFMA, ‘modernization’ means the promotion of export crops and other raw materials for export and incentives for foreign investors. In other words, the intensification of the export-oriented and import dependent characteristics of Philippine agriculture.”

He said “the law is basically the blueprint for the full-scale liberalization, privatization and deregulation of Philippine agriculture.”

“Even independent studies showed that Philippine agriculture, supposedly the backbone of the economy, remains backward,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo also said the Arroyo government’s policy of rice importation to address shortfalls in domestic consumption requirements proves to be “a wrong and perilous approach to the crisis.”

“Due to Ms Arroyo’s rice importation policy, unscrupulous rice traders further justify to pull the prices of palay down to an average of P8 to P9 at the farm-gate and totally undermine efforts of farmers to increase production,” Ocampo said. “This buying rate at the farm-gate could hardly enable rice farmers to recover production costs.”

He said that “the current rice crisis shows that the Arroyo government’s rice importation policy completely failed even in the field of stabilizing prices in the market.”

The Bayan Muna lawmaker reiterated proposals for the government to abandon its agricultural trade liberalization policy, a stop to land-use conversion, the realignment of debt and war spending budget to food production, strengthening of the National Food Authority’s local procurement capacity by raising farm-gate prices, and the dismantling of rice cartels. #

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