Identifying Priority Government Interventions for Agriculture Value Chain Development

The provision of government support programs to the seaweeds industry in the past emulates the conventional top-down approach characterized by being centrally managed and largely supply-driven. In such case, the active participation of the local governments and other industry stakeholders in the decision making process is quite limited. Under the Agriculture and Fishery Modernization Plan, scientific tools such as value chain analysis (VCA), which engages key actors from production down to end- product users, were established as fundamental in the process of planning government interventions. This paper therefore aims to present how VCA and the use of the a supplementary tool, the participatory systems analysis (PSA), have enhanced and facilitated the identification of priority government interventions for seaweeds industry. Information were elicited through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and stakeholders consultations. The results of the study show that, at the national level, priority interventions for the seaweeds industry constitute (1) establishment and maintenance of seaweed nurseries and culture laboratories for sufficient supply of quality seedlings, (2) provision of access to financial resources and conduct of trainings to capacitate farmers, (3) availability of productive assets for more efficient seaweed farming and postharvest like boats and dryers, (4) access to crop insurances to guarantee incomes and expand economic returns to farmers, and (5) enactment and enforcement of favorable policies to enhance seaweed farming conditions

The Potential of Collective Behavior in Improving Sustainability of Seaweeds Value Chain in the Philippines

Seaweed farming has been a major source of income for fisherfolks in the Philippines. The farms’ generally small production volume essentially limits the value chain potential. The low output of the farmers confines them to marketing their seaweeds to the small traders who do not have minimum volume requirements despite lower buying prices compared to bigger traders and deductions imposed for farmers who borrowed capital for farm inputs. The emergence of collective behavior is, however, breaking through the traditional value chain of seaweeds. This paper thus capitalized on value chain analysis in an attempt to examine the potential of cooperativism in upgrading the seaweeds value chain in Agutaya, Palawan, and in Talibon, Bohol. Data were collected using rapid appraisal techniques within the value chain framework where market maps, value chain analysis, and upgrading strategies were developed. The study exhibits that with the collective behavior of farmers, the conventional, relatively long seaweeds value chain that passes through multiple traders from farmers to carrageenan processors has been transformed to a much straightforward chain of farmer groups to processors. Accordingly, the estimation of value added reveals that the distribution of value added across segments is more equitable in the new value chain structure. Cooperativism improves bargaining power. This offers an advantageous position for farmers, translating to significant adjustments in profits that enables them to repay debts and gain freedom to scout for other market options. Therefore, this signifies that cooperativism is promising for the sustainability of seaweeds value chain, particularly in the aspect of production

Effects of Intergovernmental Transfers on Income and Poverty Rates: Evidence from the Philippines

Despite that subnational governments are key actors in the provision of public services, there are concerns about whether providing additional funding to them in developing countries can raise the living standards of local communities. This study investigates the impact of intergovernmental transfers on development outcomes at municipality and city levels in the Philippines from 1994 to 2015. Since the revenue-sharing mechanism between central and local governments in the Philippines follows a predetermined formula, we leverage this feature and apply the instrumental variable (IV) method for estimation. Our results suggest that the household disposable income per capita increases by 9.6% in the long run due to extra transfers of 1,000 pesos per capita in the Philippine local governments. The poverty rate has also decreased by approximately five percentage points in the long run. The improvement of development outcomes mainly occurs in small and less-developed local governments. Finally, we examine the effect of intergovernmental transfers on local expenditure and taxation; then we discuss how the results of local finance behavior can explain the observed developmental impact