Reboot Big Business In Small Farms In The Philippines! Let Us Be Encouraged By Them, Not Discouraged

For the first time in my life as an agriculturist (UP Los Baños graduate, BSA major in Ag Edu, 1965) and on record a self-proclaimer & pursuer of Communication for Development (ComDev, 1980; check out the last quarter issue of Habitat, the quarterly color magazine of Forest Research Institute where/when I was Editor in Chief) – I see and appreciate “Farm Consolidation” that makes possible the “Value Chain” – which means no one is too old to learn something new, thank God! (I am 82+.)

 In the Philippines, we have millions of small farms, and millions of poor farmers – that is because the Department of Agriculture (DA) has not consistently pursued Farm Consolidation to make possible the Value Chain. I know that it was the term of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar (Aug 2019-June 2022) when farm clustering was officially proclaimed and promoted, but he was replaced as Secretary and there went Farm Consolidation thataway!

As I view it, the “Value Chain,” according to Investopedia (investopedia.com, source of middle image), the system works for every sector:

A value chain is a series of consecutive steps that go into the creation of a finished product, from its initial design to its arrival at a customer's door. The chain identifies each step in the process at which value is added, including the sourcing, manufacturing, and marketing stages of its production.

Who adds to the value benefits from the chain – farmers ––> producers of consumer goods ––> consolidators ––> transporters ––> markets.

The Value Chain makes this not only possible but constantly proceeding: On one end, Producers benefitting and on the other, Consumers finding values to their advantages.

Patricia Mirasol says, “Consolidation Key For Small Farmers Seeking To Climb Value Chains” (10 April 2023, BusinessWorld, bworldonline.com). I am ignorant of value chains so I have to google.

Investopedia says its graphic (above, “Value Chain”) shows “a business model that describes the full range of activities” (“Value Chain,” Investopedia, investopedia.com):

A value chain is a series of consecutive steps that go into the creation of a finished product, from its initial design to its arrival at a customer's door.

Thus, to take full advantage of the value chain, a farm must become an integral part of a consolidation of farms. Thus the Facebook sharing (upper image) of William Dar (11 April 2023); Ms Patricia says Mr Dar said:

Small farms must overcome their disadvantages in terms of scale and access to specialized equipment by consolidating if they are to be competitive enough to supply large buyers of produce and even join international value chains…

Organizing into “clustered farms” can result in cooperative access to farm equipment, while… big buyers could open doors to farming techniques that result in better produce and more efficient cultivation….

There is the public-private sector initiative under the Go Negosyo framework of providing farmers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to the so-called 3 Ms – The Big Ones providing money, markets, and mentoring. To small farmers, I say: “Go Negosyo!”@517