A vision for food security: Insights from food summit

Business leaders are calling for collaboration to address food inflation and the slow growth of the agriculture sector in the Philippines, which has seen an average annual growth rate of a little more than 1 percent over the past decade. With food inflation coming to 6.7 percent in July, the urgency for action is more pressing than ever.

The private sector is ready to accept the challenge and do its part as the Makati Business Club (MBC) recently had its first Food and Agriculture Summit. The summit brought together business leaders to address the critical issues of food security and agricultural sustainability in the Philippines. Our vision is clear: engage and commit Philippine business to create a modern, sustainable agricultural value chain that boosts productivity and ensures fair profit distribution for the farmers.

Food security is not just about increasing production; it is about making food affordable and accessible to all Filipinos. The private sector, the Philippine government, and cooperative enterprises must work together to lower food prices, improve the value and yield of our crops, and uplift the lives of the farmers. From an economic standpoint, imagine the impact if we can bring up the growth rate of the agriculture sector from less than 2 percent today to our average economic growth rate of more than 6 percent. Not only will that increase further the country’s economic progress but it will also accelerate poverty reduction.

The summit focused on several key initiatives aimed at achieving these goals. Our approach involves the formation of working groups focused on agriculture production and value chain by empowering cooperatives, supporting the adoption of agriculture technology, and improving logistics and food distribution. These groups are tasked with identifying pain points and developing solutions at every step of the agriculture life cycle.

The working group on Agricultural Productivity: Empowering Cooperatives, led by Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, aims to professionalize cooperatives and provide farmers with the business education and mentorship they need to succeed. It has often been said that the size of our farm does not provide for economies of scale and necessary investment. The summit underscored that strong and professionally run cooperatives bring the scale. This project will match cooperatives with MBC’s membership to encourage large businesses to partner with, invest in, strengthen governance of, and source directly from cooperatives. During the summit, memorandums of understanding were signed with Jollibee Foundation, Card MRI, and Agrea that highlight working models of collaboration.

Agriculture technology is a significant focus of the summit. This working group, led by Dickie Buhain, looks at how we can integrate modern technology with farming practices to significantly enhance productivity and drive efficiency. From farm mechanization to connectivity and digitalization to the use of artificial intelligence, investment in and adoption of rapid technology advancements can bring our farming to the 21st century. In the summit, several case studies and success stories are discussed how they can be implemented at scale.

Logistics and food distribution are key enablers to food security. Improving farm-to-market roads and building more cold storage facilities are essential steps in ensuring that food reaches consumers in the best possible condition at the most reasonable price. The working group led by Doris Ho looks at how innovative solutions—like 7-Eleven and Card MRI’s backhauling project—can help make transporting produce more efficient and allow farmers to reach more markets. Partnerships between private sector companies and cooperatives, along with public-private partnerships, are highlighted as a viable solution to address logistical synergies.

In the summit, based on the organizations’ core business, they made definitive commitment to any of the working groups in collaborating, sharing of expertise, and pooling of resources toward a more secure and prosperous future for all.

The MBC’s commitment to food security extends beyond the summit itself. Our ongoing advocacy efforts aim to create a sustainable and resilient food system for the country. Through MBC’s partnership with Kain Tayo Pilipinas as a member of the private sector coalition, we help bring about a future where no Filipino goes hungry. But this requires the collective effort of all sectors to create a system that is fair, sustainable, and resilient. After all, food security is a shared responsibility, and it is every one’s business.

MBC held its inaugural Food and Agriculture Summit: “Food is Everyone’s Business” on Sept. 16, 2024.

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Manolito “Lito” Tayag is a trustee of Makati Business Club. He served as the country managing director of Accenture Philippines for more than 12 years.

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Business Matters is a project of the Makati Business Club (makatibusinessclub@mbc.com.ph).