When I read the news from ANN that the plan of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar is for the “DA To Strengthen Family Farms, Promote Digital Agriculture[1]” (05 September 2020, DA Communications Group), I thought here are 2 concepts that were strangers to each other:
“family farm” –
physical, real-world, familiar, familial, small, non-entrepreneurial
“digital agriculture” –
non-physical, non-real, unfamiliar, unfriendly.
So how do you reconcile the two seemingly unfriendly constructs?
The answer is to familiarize the farm family with the world of knowledge via the Internet. They need each other.
Mr Dar was speaking at the first-ever meeting of the 35th United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific 01-04 September 2020 held virtually (see above main image). Representatives from 41 Member Nations participated in this year’s Conference, with observers from other UN agencies, international and inter-governmental organizations, civil society, and the private sector. The FAO Regional Conferences “play an important role in governance for policy coherence for regional development; discussion of global priorities as they relate to the region; providing inputs to the Council and Conference on FAO priorities, and discussing issues such as COVID–19 and intra–regional trade and investment.”
The UN declared 2014 as the “International Year of Family Farming,” IYFF, with the Philippines filing that IYFF resolution in 2011 yet. (image of Farm & Home[2] from Linked.in) Also, the UN Decade of Family Farming has been declared, 2019 to 2028, also with the initiative of the Philippines.
During the conference, Mr Dar said:
It is important that we continuously empower vulnerable groups – smallholder farmers, fisherfolk, rural women, the youth, indigenous communities and farm families, in general – by providing them the needed technical, marketing and financial support, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note: The DA is set to assist those vulnerable groups not only with digital knowledge in agriculture but also in providing marketing and financial supports. “Now, more than ever,” Mr Dar said, “we should reinforce this by teaching farm families to take advantage of data-driven or digital agriculture to further increase their productivity and incomes.”
Why do these groups deserve such huge attention? Mr Dar said:
Smallholders and family farmers deserve the focus in FAO discussions and programs, as they produce over 80 percent of the world’s food in value terms, and play a vital role in achieving food security and improving nutrition.
If you want to thank a farmer, thank a small farmer!
In the meantime, how is the DA actually treating digital technology? Mr Dar said:
In terms of precision agriculture and digital technology, the Department of Agriculture is fast-tracking the development of a digital roadmap for the agri-fishery sector. We aim to integrate digital technologies in the food value chain and logistics, benefiting both producers and consumers.
When Mr Dar became Secretary of Agriculture last year, he brought in “The New Thinking for Agriculture” – today, he is bringing in The New Digital Thinking for Agriculture. PH Agriculture is moving to wider knowledge!@517
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