Grow Asia announces new collaboration with PBSP to drive agricultural dev’t and sustainability in PH
Singapore, [February 15, 2017] – Grow Asia, a multi-stakeholder partnership platform that catalyzes action on inclusive agricultural development in South East Asia, yesterday announced the launch of a new collaboration with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), a business-led social development foundation committed to poverty reduction. The collaboration establishes an in-country Secretariat to support the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA) to deliver on Grow Asia’s strategy for the country.
The PPSA is one of five Country Partnerships, catalyzed and supported by Grow Asia, which are led and guided by local leaders from government, the private sector and civil society. The Country Partnerships contribute to Grow Asia’s goal of helping 10 million smallholders improve their crop yields, increase their net income and reduce their environmental footprint by 20% by 2020.
In line with the guiding principles of Grow Asia, the PPSA Secretariat will support ongoing projects and create new multi-stakeholder, local partnerships to develop market-driven, measurable, and scalable projects to contribute to agricultural development and food security, with an emphasis on supporting smallholder farmers. Through the creation of value chain projects, and in alignment with national programs and government priorities, the partnership will bring together stakeholders across sectors to address challenges facing agriculture in the Philippines, including low productivity, high production costs, climate change, and limited capital investment.
The PPSA Secretariat will serve as an in-country coordinating body and provide on-the-ground support to the PPSA Working Groups in areas of performance measurement, resource mobilization, research and technical assistance as well as communications. Currently, four Working Groups organized around coffee, corn, coconut, and fisheries are in place and developing their value chain projects. Grow Asia will continue to provide overall strategic direction and support PPSA locally and regionally.
“It will empower our partners including, agribusinesses, Government and farmers to come together to create new partnerships for inclusive and sustainable agriculture value chains, discuss enabling policies and above all, improve the profitability and long term environmental sustainability of the Philippines’ smaller scale farmers,”said Grahame Dixie, Executive Director of Grow Asia\
“PBSP helps communities become self-reliant through sustainable livelihood programs. With the government’s call for inclusive growth and the changing landscape of how companies engage in social development, we have intensified awareness on inclusive business and collective impact as strategies for a more effective response by the business sector. This collaboration with Grow Asia will enable PBSP to scale up its work and develop initiatives which address key issues in agriculture by creating country- and multiple stakeholder-led, locally-driven value chains focused on increasing business opportunities in under-served markets. Most importantly, it will enable the inclusion of marginalized farmers and smallholders in these initiatives that would promote a more sustainable source of income and eventually contribute to the improvement of their quality of life,” added Reynaldo Antonio D. Laguda, Executive Director of PBSP.
The PPSA was formally launched in 2015 by the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture in partnership with local and global companies with the goal of empowering smallholder farmers to improve crop yields, increase net income, and reduce the environmental footprint, each by 20% by 2020. To date, PPSA has brought together more than 80 organizations, formed four Working Groups and is developing projects based on detailed analysis of value chains aligned with the national government’s Rural Development Project (PRDP). The activities of the PPSA Working Groups aim to contribute to those roadmaps and take advantage of the proposed investment in value chain partnerships.
The PPSA Secretariat welcomes participation from companies, government agencies, civil society organizations, non-government organizations and farmer organizations.