The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the United Nations Philippines RePubliKo campaign conducted a Roundtable Discussion (RTD) to respond and initiate an in-depth discussion about critical issues and concerns of LGUs that need to be addressed in further conversations on the agricultural sector in order to align the agricultural sector with the local government agenda of the Local Government Units (LGUs). With the theme, “Harmonizing Agricultural Sector with the Local Government Agenda and its Roadmap to Federalism,” the said RTD was held on December 7, 2016 at Microtel By Wyndham, UP TechnoHub, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.

Attended by a total number of fifty-one (51) attendees from the Local Government Units (LGUs), national government agencies (NGAs) and other development partners, aimed to provide an opportunity to formulate legislative measures and policy proposals based on emergent findings and reports from the RTD. One of the speakers of the RTD is Director Leo Cañeda, from the Office of the Undersecretary for Operations of the Department of Agriculture (DA), presented the thrusts and principles which will serve as a guide in implementing programs and projects during the current administration for six years and discussed policy directions on harmonizing agricultural sector with local government agenda and its roadmap to federalism. While Dir. Alicia Ilaga, Director for DA Systems-Wide Climate Change Office (SWCCO), was invited to discuss and explain the current national initiative on climate change in agriculture through ‘Strengthening Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA)’. AMIA defines DA’s national framework in addressing climate change in agriculture and serves as the umbrella program covering climate change across all programs, functions, and agencies at DA. 

During the RTD, an open discussion on various aspects on agricultural services issues was conducted and the delegates were asked to identify different recommendations based on their experiences and provide further solutions to the issues which see them appropriate for them. Some of the issues identified that hinders the performance of LGUs in addressing concerns in agricultural productivity is the lack of technical capacity of agricultural workers and/or officials, whose major task is to provide assistance and guidance in increasing farm productivity, which may be considered factor to the stagnant condition of agriculture. In response to this, the delegates were asked to frame policy recommendations and immediate response thereto which deemed appropriate to their agricultural needs.

Overall, the output of the RTD is to produce an roadmap – in the form of a white paper – that will be given to the Office of the President/Office of the Cabinet Secretary, Senate and Congress, and key national government agencies. This white paper will serve as the first of a series of LGU positions and inputs addressing the issues and concerns on devolution of the LGUs in the face of the federalism state of government.

See Documentation: http://ulap.net.ph/resources/knowledge-products-and-reports/302-harmonizing-agricultural-sector-with-the-local-government-agenda-and-its-roadmap-to-federalism.html