Agriculture sector: A  laggard, forever?

Earlier this week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the “economy is back on track in the third quarter of 2023 after a slower second quarter.” It “grew by 5.9% from July to September 2023,” it added. Obviously, it is an “improvement from the previous quarter’s 4.3%”.

Notably, the main contributors to the third quarter growth were “wholesale and retail trade, vehicle repair, financial and insurance activities, and construction.” Sadly, the agriculture sector was at its usual self, a slow-performer. As the statistics revealed, it declined by .3% as the “crops and fisheries sectors recorded lower outputs.”

The 2022 GDP (Gross Domestic Product) data confirms this. Then, the agriculture sector, industry sector and the service sector contributed 8.9%, 29.7% and 61.4%, respectively. These performances with a labor force of 8.9% (agriculture), 29.7% (industry) and 61.4% (services).

Clearly, therefore, as has always been the case, the service and industry sectors are driving the economy as, among others, tourism, business process outsourcing and gaming activities continued to contribute and government spending on infrastructure are sped up.  Despite the reported recovery in the third quarter, however, the reality that the agriculture sector remains dormant or downright a consistent poor performer obtain.

Indeed, looking intently at these numbers, the agriculture sector remained disappointing.  In recent years, we saw the rise of the service sector and the fall of the agriculture sector. To recall, in just a few years, we saw the drop of the agriculture sector from a contribution to our GDP of around 10% down to 8.9% last year. Adding to such woes, the labor force in the same sector went down from what used to be above 30% to just 29.7%.

This reduction in the labor force should have been better if this was due to modernization or mechanization of the country’s agriculture. Apparently, however, it is not, as the contribution of the sector to our economy went down to just 8.9%. If there is one obvious reason, it was due primarily to rural exodus. It simply means, farmers or farm workers left their farms and tried their luck in highly urbanized areas. The mean reason, abject poverty.

Notably, majority of those in dire strait are in the agriculture sector. In fact, if examined closely, those who are mired in poverty in the highly urbanized cities’ slum areas are rural migrants. These are offshoots of the continuing rural exodus on account of the feeling and perception of helplessness in the countryside.

We can’t blame them. Remember, for decades now, despite bragging about being an agricultural country, we’ve been experiencing food shortages. Ironically, all these decades, this concern has been provided with temporary solutions like rice importation and government subsidy. All of which are non-farmer-productivity-related.

Quite frankly, there had been multitudes of perceived solutions to these woes (that didn’t work out) that were presented on the table. Among multitudes of plans, something different was broached four (4) years ago. To recall, NEDA was urging colleges and universities “to improve their course offerings on agriculture-related programs and make them attractive to the young generation.” Honestly, that was the first time that we heard this kind of proposal. Unlike the usual “fire-fighting” approaches in solving the agriculture sector’s woes, this happens to be the more lasting solution.

However, if seriously considered by the universities, we do not know. The fact remains that “the interest to enroll in agriculture-related courses among students is declining.” What makes the situation worse is the fact that the concern of the continually increasing percentage of ageing farmers (in the labor force) is serious and remains a huge threat to the country’s agricultural sector.

To attract the younger generation, the national government should seriously move towards mechanization. Definitely, it is through mechanization, by way of educating the younger generation, that we will be able to solve our problems in agriculture. Yes, with emphasis on educating young children and making courses in agriculture attractive to them by making it prospectively “economically attractive,” we can probably see soon the best minds joining the profession.

Also, as the younger generations are “digital natives”, incorporating information technology (which is massively used by farmers in Japan) into the course can also generate more interest. Otherwise, the agricultural sector will remain a bottom-dweller among the three sectors in the economy. A laggard, forever.