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Members of the Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture and PCAF secretariat discuss policies on alternative livelihood programs for affected fishers during the closed fishing season.

As a follow through of participatory planning workshop of the National Sectoral and Strategic Concerns Committees (NSSCCs) chairpersons and members, a policy agenda setting was conducted on November 27, 2018 at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management Convention Hall.

Facilitated by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), through its Policy Development and Coordination Division (PDCD), the workshop aimed to gather additional inputs from the industry stakeholders to come up with effective policy proposals that will address current and emerging issues.

Executive Director Sarah Gutierrez-Cayona welcomed the NSSCCs members and expressed her gratitude for their continued support and commitment to the agency. “Let’s listen to the small voice na nagsasabing gawin natin ang nararapat at kaya nating gawin,” Cayona said urging the participants to take on the challenge.   

Meanwhile, PDCD Acting Chief Julieta Opulencia presented the rationale and the expected output of the activity. “Agriculture and fishery policy service is the agency’s major final output (MFO). Dito tinitingnan ng Department of Budget and Management ang accomplishment ng PCAF,” emphasized by Opulencia.

The policy resolutions recommended by the NSSCCs to the concerned government agencies and private entities, with PDCD serving as secretariat, constitute to the accomplishment of agency’s MFO which is the agriculture and fishery policy service.         

Afterwards, Planning, Monitoring and Knowledge Management Division (PMKMD) OIC-Assistant Chief Cleofas Ventic presented the outputs of sectoral committee representatives during the participatory planning workshop.

The output will serve as a guide for the PDCD in crafting the FY 2020 plan and budget proposals as well as in finalizing the agency’s strategic plan. The new activities and strategies identified will also be considered in the crafting of PCAF’s tier 2 proposal for FY 2020.

PMKMD OIC-Asst. Chief Ventic also presented the priority areas of concern for the conduct of evaluative and policy studies which would become part of the agency’s target next year.

Exec. Dir. Sarah Gutierrez-Cayona and PCAF secretariat pose with the committee members from (clockwise) Commercial Crops, Climate Change, Poultry, Livestock and Feed Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Food Staples and the Agriculture and Fisheries Mechanization Committee.

After the presentation of NSSCCs participatory planning workshop output, all concerned industry stakeholders were then grouped according to their sectoral committee affiliation. From the list of identified issues and concerns, the participants were tasked to prioritized policy agenda that will be discussed during sectoral meetings and public consultations next year.

Among the identified issues and concerns, the NSSCCs highlighted the following; lack or unreliability of production data, limited collaborations of NSSCCs and the Agricultural and Fishery Councils, and inadequate technical secretariat support from PCAF.

Committee Chairpersons presided the round-table discussion while the PDCD staff documented the highlights and agreements. Matrices of sectoral issues and concerns from the participatory planning workshop were provided as reference for discussion of concerned committees. – JD