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Secretary William Dar Dreams Of A PH Database On Agriculture, ADING – Perfect Match For OpAPA!

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On 27 January 2021, the press release came out from the Department of Agriculture (DA) titled “DA Taps State Schools For Food Security Policy Research Projects [1] , ” data-gathering efforts commonly aiming at creating a regional database for agricultural and rural development, urgently for national food security. The collaboration is another initiative of the DA under its Agriculture Dialogue and Information Network Groups (ADING) Program “that aims to further strengthen and improve public trust and confidence in the Department.” Note: “Ading” in Ilocano means “younger sibling.” Now, not only the aim but the name is perfect – I am thinking of the 17-year old proposal of Mr Dar himself that he called “ Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture” (OpAPA), which he advocated in 2003 when he was still Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) – with ADING and OpAPA 2021, we have a family of science knowledge banks with Mr Dar as fat...
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Goat – Why The “Poor Man’s Cow” Is The Rich Man’s Crop Unseen

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When I was a kid (pun intended) in the then-sleepy village of Sanchez in Asingan, Pangasinan, we had 2 or 3 goats tied to the posts underneath our half-wood-half-bamboo house, fed with grass and often leaves of the damortis ( camachile , Manila tamarind) from branches that I cut and then hung underneath the house for them to reach and eat at will. We did not think of raising more goats to earn more. We were not poor by any means, but we did not think richer . That is the problem I see with people raising goats, consciously or unconsciously fixating on the idea that “the goat is the poor man’s cow.” When you think poorly of the goat, that animal cannot make you richer! I just saw under Goat Project Cordillera “DA-CAR-SAAD Press Release No Kalinga 15” on Facebook and it says (edited a little): The Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program, in collaboration with the local governments of Kalinga (province) and Tanudan (town), turned over 263 head native goats (239 h...
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How To Bring Food Prizes Down? Start At The Farm, Not The Market!

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Yes, when it comes to food, you can have everything today, despite the lockdown. That promise we get from government action, as reported by ANN – “DA-ACPC Expands Agri-Negosyo (ANYO) Loan Program To Help Strengthen Food Supply Chain [1] ” (Author Not Named, 10 April 2021, ACPC.gov.ph ). Above, Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) Executive Director Jocelyn Alma R Badiola talks to marketers, part of a series of consultations to enable the ACPC to develop a food-supply-chain-financing program to directly link farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) as suppliers, to market vendors’ associations (MVAs) in Metro Manila as sellers. FCAs will produce what MVAs will sell in a smooth, continuous supply chain. Secretary of Agriculture William Dar , ex-officio head of the Department of Agriculture (DA), to which the ACPC is attached, says: We are initiating this financing program to institutionalize mutual partnership between the farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) an...
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“ACPC Financial Services?” – Good! “Farmers’ “Financial Management?” – Bad!

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  If you know what you need to do, you will keep doing it. On page 119 of the coffee-table book The Filipino Farmer Is Bankable , the volume I produced for the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) to celebrate its Silver Anniversary on 25 April 2012, can be found these entries: Vision The ACPC is the institution on agri credit policy and program development that promotes sustainable and effective delivery of financial services in the countryside. Mission To develop and advocate agri credit policies and orchestrate programs that would promote farmers’ and fishers’ access to sustained financial services. 9 years later, on the ACPC website, ACPC.gov.ph , word-for-word the exact same Vision and Mission Statements [1] appear. What does that signify? To me, it shows that the ACPC, after clearly defining its role in the nationwide development of PH Agriculture as an agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), has remained steadfast in its institutional commitments. I find tha...
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“One DA” Champions The Poor!

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Today Saturday, 10 April 2021, Manila PH: “Happy Birthday, Sir William Dar , Secretary of Agriculture! We wish you more happy birthdays to come!” Mr Dar was Director General (DG) 2000 to 2014 of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), which is based in India. 15 years – the Indians had so much faith in him as science leader, so why not us Filipinos? Know that when Mr Dar became DG of ICRISAT, the institute belonged to the bottom of the list ( kulelat ) among 15 international agricultural research centers under CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research), including IRRI. When Mr Dar retired in December 2014, ICRISAT was already #1, having won many awards and increased its budget over the years. The Secret? Team ICRISAT . The Spirit behind? Mr Dar as Servant Leader . I know all that because I was international consulting writer (WFH) from 2007 to 2014, maintaining the blog iCRiSAT Watch ( Blogspot.com ), publishing a tota...
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8 Credit Programs Of ACPC Show Filipino Farmers Are Bankable!

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Above is the front cover of a coffee-table book published by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) titled The Filipino Farmer Is Bankable . The inset logos show that the ACPC is an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA). The inset text says: With credit, the ACPC looks forward to the day millions of poor farmers and fishers, along with their households, have become as resilient as the bamboo, that is, pliant, sturdy, resistant to stress, can withstand harsh weather, and thrives even on infertile grounds. Yes, the ACPC now knows our farmers are “Bankable!” – given the ACPC’s financial assistance and supervision to individuals and groups. That is the lesson I personally learned in my field trips and subsequently singlehandedly digitally producing the above ACPC coffee-table book subtitled Celebrating 25 Years Of The ACPC. (I myself celebrated when that book came out.) Late January in 2012, Executive Director of the ACPC Jovita Corpuz , from out of the blue pick...
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Filipino Farmers Don’t Give Credit To Credit – What’s The ACPC For?

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This is both a Glad and Sad Story. Glad: The Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) has maintained its ISO 9001:2015 QMS Certification [1] as of October 2020. Sad: Many a poor Filipino farmer remains the loser in the credit card game played in the villages. Well, farmers don’t realize it as credit – they just know it’s Fast Cash , no questions asked, no collateral, no waiting in line. We call it “Five-Six” – it’s really a “Borrow Now Pay Later Plan” – borrow 5 pay 6, 20% interest within 100 days, even within 24 hours. Fast cash for the borrower, fat cash for the lender. Aren’t both happy?! Isn’t that a failure of credit consciousness in the Philippines? Isn’t that a failure of an agency to promote credit worthiness in both borrowers and lenders? No, not so fast! Because, right now, there is no single public agency tasked to promote the use and demote the abuse of farm credit in the Philippines. The nearest body I can think of is the ACPC, but my googling tells me I’m wrong. A ...
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