The latest official poverty statistics for the basic sectors released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) last month held no surprises. According to the PSA, farmers and fishers remained as the poorest basic sectors in 2021. This has been the trend for the last 15 years, according to available data from the agency (See, “PSA: Farmers, fishermen remain poorest in PHL,” BusinessMirror, July 2, 2017).
In 2021, PSA data showed that poverty incidence among fishers reached 30.6 percent, slightly higher than the 30 percent recorded for farmers. Behind the food producers are children, individuals residing in rural areas. The poverty incidences of children and people residing in rural areas reached 26.4 percent and 25.7 percent, respectively.
The silver lining in the latest PSA data is that poverty incidence among farmers declined by 1.6 percentage points in 2021. However, the poverty incidences of fishers and children went up by 4.4 percentage points and 2.5 percentage points, respectively, in 2021 from the levels recorded in 2018. The PSA report did not provide an explanation why more fishers and children fell into poverty during the period.
What is clear from the report released by the government’s statistics agency is that the poverty incidence among farmers and fishers remain above the national average of 23.7 percent recorded in the first semester of 2021. Poverty incidence was defined by the PSA as the proportion of poor Filipinos whose per capita income is not sufficient to meet their basic food and non-food needs. Despite producing the food required by a growing population, almost a third of farmers and fishers are not earning enough to feed themselves and their families, according to government data.
Judging from the figures released by the official statistics agency, it may take a while to convince the youth that agriculture can be a profitable venture. This means that the current administration will have to work double time to find the right mix of policies and programs that will allow farmers to leapfrog to a higher income. It must also assess existing mechanisms that aim to assist the nation’s food producers, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.
There are existing programs that have enabled farmers to come up with value-added products and these can be expanded and supported by concerned government agencies. The Linking Smallholder Farmers to Market with Microfinance project of the Department of Agrarian Reform, for one, has allowed planters from Camarines Sur to turn their dried taro leaves into bottled laing (See, “CamSur farmers turn dried taro leaves into bottled laing,” in the BusinessMirror, April 3, 2023). Another government project assisted a group of planters in producing cassava chips.
A study published last year by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies said the poor are further marginalized in the economic and political realms of society because their interest is subordinated to those of the more powerful and influential sectors. “It is important for their voices to be heard in the course of determining the right policies that will emancipate them from their condition and make them key actors in policy decision-making,” the paper said.
It would do well for the government to involve the target beneficiaries in the course of crafting safety net strategies and policies. The right policies and timely rollout of interventions will not only help reverse the trend related to poverty incidence in the country that has persisted for the last two decades; it will also pave the way for micro, small and medium enterprises to produce products for the export markets and provide local planters with opportunities to earn more.
