Arpon, T. B. (2022).S.M.A.R.T. NFA and LGU in Leyte Province : strengthened marketing assistance to local farmers in rice trade between NFA and LGU in Leyte Province (Unpublished thesis). Public Management Development Program, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Public Management Development Program. Middle Managers Class. Batch 28. Capstone Paper Thesis (PMDP-MMC)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

The lifting of the quantitative restriction on rice importation, paved the way for the full liberalization of rice trade in the Philippines. This was effected by the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019. The replacement of quantitative restrictions with tariff on imported rice opened the flood gates for cheaper imported rice to flow into the domestic market causing severe impact on our local rice farmers. The demand for our local rice dramatically decreased and the ex-farm price of our palay plummeted, translating to the decline of our farmers’ income. The plight of our rice farmers is further worsened by the current high inflation which resulted to higher cost of production. Farmers are hardly earning enough to meet their household expenses or even to pay back their loans. There is an urgent imperative to support rice farmers before they abandon rice farming which could have serious implications on the food security of the country. This project was designed to mitigate this negative impact of liberalization of rice trade through a marketing assistance program for our local farmers. The program was conceptualized to be undertaken in collaboration with the Local Government Units (LGUs) and/or Congressional Representatives (Congressman) of a community covered by a congressional district. It built upon the past experiences of the NFA in implementing the PALLGU Program. The implementation of the program was expected to increase the farmer’s income and increase domestic production of palay. The total income to be received by our local farmers with this program will be the sum of NFA’s support price of Php19.00/kg of clean and dry palay plus the premium support price coming from the LGU’s and concerned Congressmen’s participation in the maintenance of sustainable rice buffer stock while at the same time also helping their local farmer constituents increase their income. Farming is not just a profession but a way of living and passion to the farmers, because majority of them are still farming even if they are already aged as shown in the conducted farmers’ assessment survey. They played a vital role in sustaining the country’s food security, hence, through this project this is a way of giving back the support in order to protect the welfare of the local farmers amidst the challenges brought by liberalization.