Agriculture and the Economy

In the Philippines, agriculture accounts for an estimated one-third of employment. Aside from the agriculture sector providing jobs and income for families, this industry contributes to the overall gross domestic product (GDP) of the Philippines, as well as providing food security to the country.

Recently, the Department of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has mentioned how the agriculture sector has the potential to contribute massive growth to the GDP of the Philippines.

The World Bank has released reports saying that transforming the agriculture system in the Philippines is even more important after the COVID-19 pandemic to secure food security and incidence of poverty.

“With the exception of a few small natural resource-rich countries, no country has successfully transitioned from middle- to high-income status without having achieved an effective transformation of their agri-food systems. Transforming agriculture and food systems is always challenging,” mentions Ndiame Diop, World Bank Country Director Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

The World Bank report goes on to say that “Global experience shows that while ensuring the availability of key inputs remain important, reorienting significant public spending toward investments in public goods—including research and development (R&D), infrastructure, innovation systems, market information systems, and biosecurity systems—results in faster poverty reduction and greater productivity gains through an overall modernization of agriculture.”

Despite being a rice-eating country, the Philippines is lagging behind our Asian counterparts in terms of rice production, with local farmers competing with rice prices of imports and barely making a living.

With the suggestion and findings of the World Bank report, the government should look into better use of public funding and investing in R&D, technology, and systems to modernize agriculture and maximize its full potential.

Sources: World Bank, IFPRI, Philstar, World Bank,