.::. BAR Chronicle .::. A monthly publication of the Bureau of Agricultural Research

Vol. 7 No. 8
August 1-31, 2006
Agribusiness keeps us together
by Miko Jazmine J. Mojica

Agribusiness will stamp out poverty,” said Dr. Guillermina T. Gabor, former Tourism Secretary and now founder and president of the Philippine Small and Medium Business Development Foundation (PhilSMed), during her talk in the seminar series in celebration of the Bureau of Agricultural Research’s 19th BAR Anniversary.

As an active advocate of agriculture and tourism, Dr. Gabor, in her presentation, discussed the trade, prospects, and challenges in agribusiness in Asia and the Pacific focusing on Philippine setting. She said that agribusiness is among the world’s largest industries. “Agribusiness employs nearly 1.3 billion people and annually produces goods worth $1.3 trillion. It includes all activities in the production, manufacturing, distribution, and wholesale and retail sales of agriculture commodities,” she said.

With regard to the trends for 2006 and beyond on hot agri-based businesses for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), she highlighted the potentials of niche food businesses such as on-line food retailing, tea house, and one-food restaurant; and agritourism which she said may generate additional income from products produced in the farms.

Dr. Gabor said that agritourism is now a big thing in agriculture-oriented countries such as Taiwan where tourists enjoy “experiential travel”. For example, the tourists come to farms and they are educated on their operations by letting them try different activities such as harvesting fruits, planting crops, or even grating coconut from its shell using indigenous materials. This way, the tourists get the feel of the culture of the locals and entertained at the same time.

Dr. Gabor, who is also founder of CITEM and has been the host of a local TV program featuring exportable Philippine products for nine years, expressed her dismay in the enormity of wastage of fresh agricultural produce in the country caused by oversupply, referring particularly to coco pith, papaya, calamansi, and truckloads of unsold vegetables that rot in the murky streets of Divisoria. She said that agribusiness research must correct this problem and stressed that researches on postharvest handling technologies must be prioritized.

Further, she, being a businesswoman herself (she is also the incumbent president of the Pasay City Chamber of Commerce and Industry), pointed that business opportunities abound in the Philippines which can be sourced from agriculture and fisheries such as organic farming and contract growing.

“Contract growing is the “in” thing in agribusiness today. It reduces the risk of farmers since link to market is assured and more important, it makes them learn new techniques that could improve the quality and quantity of their produce,” said Gabor. She cited Sri Lanka, which is now one of the model countries in contract farming. “The Philippines was once in the forefront of aquaculture but we weren’t able to maintain the standard expected from us. Hence, sustainable contract farming is still one of our greatest challenges”, she added.

Besides developing postharvest techniques such as setting up of cold storage facilities, Gabor promotes the dissemination of information materials and e-marketing where a repository of market updates are shared by cooperatives to determine key commodities and current trade price. She also encourages the organization of cooperatives since it minimizes the problem of financing hence allowing the farmers to produce more and share their knowledge.

“In other agricultural countries, farmers develop their own information materials such as product brochures to entice the market. The farmers know their agribusiness well, they process their own products and they dictate the price unlike here where traders do all these things, thus, leaving the farmers with a meager income,” Gabor said.

During her presentation, Gabor encouraged the government to develop and disseminate manuals or how-to pamphlets complete with a simple cost-benefit analysis and market connection to empower more people to get into agribusiness.
Moreover, she stated three marketable commodities that the Philippines should consider focusing into. These are the production of native chickens (organic), goat raising (the kid’s skin is one of the most expensive leather material), and production of pili nuts and extraction of its oil which, according to her, is one of the most important oils in the world. “The world is ready for another nut,” Gabor quipped. She also encouraged the production of native cattle and the export of our mango, mangosteen, and other quality fruits and vegetables.

Gabor said that she makes it a point to research and learn about the potential and condition of our own resources and products as part of our responsibility to contribute in the development of our country. “A positive culture is also an important force in agricultural development. We must be proactive in setting our priorities because lost time cannot be relived,” she said.