Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar is pushing for inclusive market-oriented development in partnership with the private sector.

“Bring with you the farmers and fisherfolk when you go up. Aangat lahat. Hindi natin iiwan ang ating mga magsasaka (Everybody will rise. We will not leave our farmers behind),” Secretary Dar stressed in his message at the Special Forum on Hybrid Rice led by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Wuhan Guoying Seed Co., Ltd on August 16, 2019.

The members of the audience, composed of members of the PCCI, SL Agritech Corporation, and the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc.,  expressed their agreement after the secretary asked them, “Can you be our partner in growing this sector and bringing with us in this journey the farmers and fisherfolk?”

The new strategy for the Department of Agriculture (DA) is to engage the private sector in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the government programs and ensure that there is inclusivity for farmers and fishers.

Secretary Dar committed that the Department will study the various schemes with which the private sector can be engaged in inclusive agricultural enterprises.

Dar declared, “This is the time to reset the clock, to reboot the process so that the farmers and fishers will now be the center and focus of the development process. Let us make them prosperous.”

Under his leadership, the DA reshifts its vision towards a food-secure country where farmers and fisherfolk are prosperous and enjoying the fruit of their labor. ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)