Policy Notes:
Food is Everyone’s Business –
Agriculture and Food Security Summit 2024

The summit featured discussions on:

1. Cooperatives: The role of cooperatives in supporting smallholder farmers was highlighted as critical for enhancing local agricultural systems.

2. Agri-Tech: Discussions included the application of innovative agricultural technologies to improve efficiency and yield.

3. Logistics and Food Distribution: The need for streamlined supply chains to reduce food waste and enhance food distribution was a focal point.

Summit Highlights

1. Vision for the Agricultural Sector: DA and MBC articulated a common vision to improve agricultural productivity and food security through:

1. Empowering cooperatives to help smallholder farmers achieve scale.

2. Increased investments in technology for post-harvest infrastructure, and to enhance crop yields.

3. Improve agriculture infrastructure to support food distribution and minimize waste.

4. Increase farmer productivity and profit share.

2. Agri Productivity: Empowering Cooperatives:

1. Joseph Tanbuntiong, President of Jollibee Foods Corporation Philippines, emphasized the essential role of smallholder farmers in achieving sustainable food systems and food security.

2. The cooperatives panel agreed to pursue the Adopt-a-Co-op project. MBC’s cooperative engagement includes matching member companies to parachute executives to assist in capacitating a set cooperative and develop courses to upskill farmers on non-financial services, such as marketing, accounting, and business development. 

3. The MBC has been conducting strategic meetings with stakeholders, including private sector leaders and cooperatives, to address challenges and develop actionable strategies for empowering cooperatives.

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3. Agriculture Logistics 

1. DA Sec. Tiu Laurel talked about the critical lack of agricultural ports and post harvest systems contributing to high food prices in the Philippines. Secretary Laurel highlighted that a robust network of agri-ports and post harvest systems could significantly reduce costs for staples like rice, fertilizers, and seeds, ultimately benefiting consumers and producers.

2. Agriculture Logistics panel proposed to create a shared economy platform or space to track existing assets (such as backhaul trucks) that can be used by farmer cooperatives in order to leverage existing logistics networks and assets. 

3. MBC will advocate for publishing data on current farmgate prices in order to increase competition and fair prices.

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4. Agriculture Technology

1. Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel underscored the role of government and private sector partnership to address the urgent need to modernize various sectors of agriculture and to improve the yield of farmers with technology.

2. The working group will pilot select technologies to cooperatives in order to improve yield and bring down costs.

3. Data collection is essential in order to pinpoint inefficiencies and apply environment appropriate tools. Data can also be used to help farms and companies in selecting the correct crops for the area/region.

4. The DA updated their strategy into 10 items, under the framework “Para sa Masaganang Pilipinas”. (Annex 1)

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5. Commitments and Partnerships: 

1. MOU on Empowering Cooperatives

• MBC will collaborate in matching established companies with cooperatives, fostering a relationship that empowers agricultural communities while providing tangible benefits to the participating companies. This partnership is with CARD Business Development Service Foundation, Jollibee Group Foundation, National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), Cargill Philippines, and Ayala Foundation.

2. MOA with AGREA Foundation for the Women Food Producers Association

• AGREA Foundation and MBC are committed to address poverty, empower citizens, and promote inclusive growth for women food producers. This includes knowledge transfer and capacity-building in areas such as leadership, gender and development, skills development, financial literacy among others. 

3. MOU with Philippine Business for Social Progress – Kain Tayo Pilipinas 

• Kain Tayo Pilipinas unites the private sector and government to tackle food security and malnutrition in the country. MBC and PBSP agree to work together to strengthen agricultural development, ensuring better resource allocation, knowledge-sharing, and policy support to address food security challenges.

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6. Next steps:

1. Implement post-summit communication plan, social media, news and opinion articles. 

2. Convene the Working Groups with the addition of the pledges by companies.

3. Prioritize the Adopt-a-Coop project as our first project with partners and pinpointing the matching process and tools for capacity building.

4. Bring together MBC Women in C-Suite and AGREA Foundation’s Women Food Producers Association and participate in AGREA’s upcoming summit. 

5. Coordination meeting between MBC and PBSP’s Kain Tayo Pilipinas 

6. Quarterly report on WG progress. Plan 2025 MBC Agri and Food Security Summit

The recent summit represents a pivotal moment in addressing food security in the Philippines. By fostering partnerships between the government and the private sector, the initiative aims to create a more resilient agricultural framework that benefits both farmers and consumers. As mentioned by Sec. Tiu Laurel, this summit was a timely and essential platform for dialogue between government and the private sector. It is an opportunity to exchange ideas, forge partnerships, and develop strategies that will ensure food security in the country.

To know more about MBC’s work on agriculture or join conversations with the working groups, you may reach out to Adrian Asoy (adrian.asoy@mbc.com.ph) who leads the agri beat. 

For more information about the summit and future initiatives, visit https://mbc.com.ph/agriculture/mbc-agriculture-and-food-security-summit-2024/.