World Bank Advises LGUs to Prioritize Spending on Agriculture

According to the World Bank, Local Government Units (LGUs) are advised to spend funds efficiently, specifically for agriculture as this would drive productivity and growth in the sector.

“It’s about helping LGUs to spend effectively. If you look at farm-to-market roads, irrigation, research, and development — those have been undervalued and that’s where you need sufficient funding to raise productivity. Those areas could receive much more resources,” mentioned Ndiame Diop, World Bank Country Director for the Philippines.

Anuja Kar, World Bank Senior Agriculture Economist mentions that LGUs should put agriculture spending first.

“Agriculture has remained a very important source of livelihood in the country, especially during the pandemic, where it absorbed the retrenched workers. It has profound importance in livelihood, food security, and jobs,”  mentions Kar.

Back in 2021, the agriculture sector employed an estimated 24% of the total workforce of the Philippines.

Despite this figure, Kar has stated that the contribution of agriculture to the national budget has been on decrease from 2.6% in 2015 to 1.3% in 2019.

The agriculture sector has placed importance on “commodity-based banner programs” like rice but has not given the intended results according to Kar.

“Rice hasn’t really picked up, overall, we are seeing the amount of spending going into the sector is not generating the result,”

In the Economic Update report of the World Bank, the Madanas-Garcia Ruling can impact local service delivery if managed well.

“Though such devolution presents an opportunity to make agriculture service delivery more client-driven and accountable, there remain significant risks if it is not managed well,” stated the World Bank.

Source: Business World