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Indicators of social sustainability • Social sustainability more qualitative (e.g. how things are perceived) than economic and environmental sustainability where it is easier to put quantitative indicators. Hard to measure values such as status, recognition, the relationship with society and consumers and society's norms are perhaps most important for the long-term sustainability of Swedish agriculture. • Social life cycle assessments (LCA) very interesting to develop further because there is always a need to measure. But there is a big lack of available and reliable data. • Are those in... Read moredicators that are in place enough? Do we measure the things we want to measure? • How can goals around social sustainability be set? And how to deal, in the present, with changed norms around social issues in the future? • How to handle trade-offs between different social sustainability aspects. Which aspects are more important? Where can most damage control be made? Is that possible to decide? Read less

The importance of social sustainability in the food system • Appreciated topic of discussion, but difficult (e.g. how to measure?”) and maybe therefor not so talked about • Social sustainability in primary production is important for national food production – both different rules and regulations and the perception of vulnerability among producers – decide if they will continue or discontinue the business • Ecological or economic (growth / profitability) sustainability is more often in focus. It is often with “economic growth” arguments that many actors downplay the importance ... Read moreof strengthening social (and environmental) sustainability. Social sustainability should/must be central within the framework of the planetary boundaries (ecological sustainability) with economic sustainability as a tool for achieving social sustainability. See how this can be illustrated, for instance “the wedding cake” https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2016-06-14-how-food-connects-all-the-sdgs.html or the “donut economy” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut_(economic_model) Read less

Participants showed great interest in discussing social sustainability in the food system and after attending the dialog the participants had gained a larger understanding of what social sustainability is. Social sustainability in the food system needs to be addressed more often. In Sweden we tend to focus more on economic and environmental sustainability and put less priority on the social dimension. This is a complex subject that inadvertently leads to different types of justice issues and discussions about who/where the price for economic and environmental sustainability is paid. What is th... Read moree goal and what are the tools to get there? More dialogues and discussion on this topic are needed both in general with people involved in the food system but specific actions by the authorities is also needed. There is a need to engage in continued discussions on this topic at all levels; openly and transparently. We need to dare to highlight practical obstacles to a socially sustainable everyday life for primary producers (holidays/replacements, childcare, etc.). There is a need to review current business models and review the past and ongoing structural rationalizations to understand and learn where change is needed. Different actors need to consider new paths for social sustainability in 'their' part of the system. More resources for research to make social sustainability measurable and explicable is needed. Social life cycle assessment is an accepted concept and helps to shed light on the issue, but there is a need for more and more reliable data. It is important to involve actors that are or can be affected in the conversations and solutions. There exist some indicators to follow up social sustainability in the food system but it that enough and will we achieve the necessary transformation? There are many goal conflicts associated with achieving social sustainability for all parts of the food system (may be in relation to economic or ecological sustainability, or in relation to other parts of society and its social sustainability). We need to have continued cross-disciplinary/cross-sectorial discussions about social sustainability in the food system, what it means and how it can be measured. In that we need to: • Make social sustainability issues visible • Continuously identify stakeholders in order to broaden/develop discussions • Create forums for meetings and discussions • Raise and discuss the question of responsibility • Raise and discuss the issue of indicators and “data” Read less

Focus: Facilitate a dialog around the key questions; What is social sustainability? What does social sustainability look like in Sweden and in an EU-perspective? Is it possible to measure social sustainability and does it matter when it comes to the attractiveness of jobs now and in the future? Can social sustainability be communicated to a consumer? Does social sustainability contain conflicts of interest and if so, what are they? How do we make sure that the social sustainability continues to be relevant in a transformed food system? These are some of the questions that will be discussed dur... Read moreing the webinar on social sustainability in food systems. The dialogue was in the format of a digital webinar in three parts; part one was set up as a seminar with invited speakers who highlighted different aspects of social sustainability in the food system with a focus on the national (Swedish) food system. Part two was organized as group discussions and part three consisted of individual feedback from the participants via Mentimeter followed by sharing of those reflections in plenum. The group discussions and the individual feedback covered the following questions: - Is there any aspect of social sustainability in the food system that has received too little attention and should be highlighted more? - What indicators do you suggest for this aspect? - How can we raise the awareness of the social sustainability dimension nationally? Read less

Although not explicitly discussed in the main dialogues as these are being addressed within the halls of Congress, the areas of divergence involve agricultural trade policies that balance supply and prices of commodities vis-à-vis interests of food producers and clamor of consumers.

Apart from the commodity-based recommendations that emanated from the NFSS breakout sessions, recommendations on various crosscutting concerns were also identified based on the pre-summit thematic consultations and the papers presented by experts during the plenary sessions. 1. The need to operationalize the concept of food security vis-à-vis self-sufficiency. The path to food security policy is not via protection by insulation, but via nurturing and strengthening of farmers with well-conceived and non-distortive assistance that will, among others, improve their capabilities as farm entrepren... Read moreeurs, not as mere tillers. 2. Agricultural trade policy. Related to food security, this is an area where lines of communication still have to be kept open. The sector needs to increase public investments for productivity enhancement of local producers, in exchange of protecting the rights of consumers to available, affordable and nutritious food. 3. Credit or lending for small farmers and fisherfolk. Two basic recommendations stood out: 1) the creation of a wholly-owned LBP subsidiary dedicated to small farmers and fishers; and 2) the need to facilitate bank compliance with Agri-Agra law to ensure readily available credit portfolios in the banking sector. 4. Immediate rollout of the Province-led agriculture and fisheries extension system or PAFES, to ensure shared accountability for agri-fishery development between national and local governments. 5. Push for farm consolidation and clustering. To ensure that this happens, there is a recommendation to make organizing and sustaining farmer associations as KRAs for the DA and its agencies, as well as the LGUs. 6. Strategic shift from traditional farming into agribusiness. As an adjunct to farm consolidation and clustering, there is a need to ensure that the majority of small farmers and fisherfolk get to be formal players in the value chains. 7. Diversification and promotion of exports. There is a need to diversify into other higher value products. The agriculture and fisheries sector has put much attention on rice, corn, sugarcane and coconut which provide relatively lower income per hectare. It is high time that we diversify and promote exports of high value products to really increase farmers’ income. 8. Promoting innovations, modern technologies and R&D, and human resources development. There is a need to include these in the value chains to really be able to compete especially with other ASEAN countries; 9. Youth and women engagement. We cannot talk about sustainable and resilient food systems if that huge bulge of demographics is not engaged across food systems from production to consumption. We have to ensure that they are empowered, employed and can employ other people so that we achieve together food security, so that we can achieve national security. 10. Call out for the fisheries and aquatic resources sector to beef up its ranks to push for the ultimate ambition of making the Philippines a truly maritime nation. This can be achieved through the creation of an entity dedicated to the attainment of the said objective. Read less

Fisheries and Aquaculture For capture fisheries, strategies -- provision of alternative livelihood opportunities -- related to addressing temporary income loss of fishermen during off fishing season topped the list. The rest were governance- and technology-related strategies. The aquaculture group also recommended the creation of a governance structure to steer the country towards becoming a true maritime nation. This needs to be complemented with the establishment of a national program for aquaculture, which can hopefully provide funds for the rehabilitation and establishment of hatcheries, d... Read moreevelopment of standards or regulations and capacity building activities. Read less

Sugar Top priorities for the sector revolved around strategies to improve productivity and income through block farming, or farm consolidation and clustering. These strategies, however, should be complemented with financial support to address agronomic concerns through specific programs as well as costs of farm operations through mechanization.

Cacao and Coffee The development of a Program that will assist processors to develop quality local coffee and cacao products, which can compete with international brands, was on top of the agenda. Coconut Top recommendations encompassed the whole value chain: strengthening extension services; developing integrated coconut-based farming systems; establishing shared processing facilities; and marketing assistance to boost demand for coconut products.

Fruits The fruits subsector -- composed of banana, mango and pineapple -- has recommended functional strategies. For banana, focus was on enhancing propagation techniques towards having quality planting materials, provision of post-harvest and processing facilities all the way to increased supply, improved quality and export volume. For mango, access to credit, rejuvenation of existing mango trees through farm clustering for easy access to subsidies and other government support like mechanization and other new technologies were identified. Finally, for pineapple, priorities identified include ... Read morethe establishment of nurseries in research stations and SUCs with enhanced technologies for the production of quality planting materials. Improved cultural management practices and capacity building especially on integrated pest management were also identified. These can be enhanced by leveraging the expertise of private companies, SUCs and private extension workers. Read less

Vegetable Priorities were evenly distributed within the entire value chain from production to consumption. The identified priority interventions were: providing post-harvest facilities; conducting farmer training programs especially on pest and disease management; good agricultural practices certification; building of more trading centers; and running advocacy campaigns to increase vegetable consumption.

Poultry Strategies similar to that of the livestock sector were noted identified, such as the harmonization of production and marketing data. The passage of a national law on land use was also recognized as a priority area, as well as genetic improvement through the setting up of local breeding stations. Other recommended strategies were focused on ensuring additional funding for poultry and corn, and provision of incentives for the duck industry.

Dairy Apart from genetic improvement and related technologies, top priority includes expansion of the implementation of the National Dairy Authority Buyback Program to procure upgraded animals, and the development of the National Animal Nutrition Program with focus on corn silage production to enhance dairy animal productivity thru the provision of affordable feeds.

Livestock and Corn Top priority were strategies that will revive the livestock industry from the onslaught of African Swine Fever (ASF) were through repopulation and ASF control and prevention programs. Other strategies include increasing productivity through local AI technologies, easy access to production data and market information to be made available online, the establishment of biosecurity facilities like Agriculture Commodity Examination Area as first border inspection facility; and the passage of the long overdue Land Use Act to provide basis for balanced approach in land use planning,... Read more management and implementation of livestock farms and facilities. Read less

Rice It was agreed that a diverse set of strategies should be developed, such as soil nutrient management to increase productivity, marketing policies like the imposition of suggested farmgate price, tapping water for irrigation through hydrogeological profiling of possible sources, promoting more active private sector participation in the hybrid rice program to ensure sustainability and seed availability, and the adoption of proven technologies for a more sustainable rice production, among others.

The following were the findings and conclusions of the 2021 Philippine National Food Security Summit: 1. While the agriculture and fisheries sector has remained resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Philippines remains a laggard among its ASEAN neighbors in terms of achieving food security for its population, based on the Global Food Security Index. The government has been working towards raising the productivity and income of farmers (through the Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita mantra) but there is still a long way to go when it comes to attaining food security for the people. 2. In te... Read morerms of measures, there are many accessible and available opportunities in the agriculture and fishery sector in which farm productivity can immediately be raised, farmers’ incomes are improved, and competitiveness is attained. However, the sector remains grossly underfunded, hence, stakeholders must come together to make a convincing case for the contribution of the sector to the economy and simultaneously develop commodity roadmaps that will attract investments from other sources. 3. The devolution of agriculture and fisheries development to the local government units distributes the accountability for rural agri-fishery development to the rest of government, instead of solely resting it on the hands of the Department of Agriculture. 4. The modern subsector of progressive farmers and corporate farms can lead the way toward achievable goals. If those involved in the development of the sector act cohesively, the Philippines may be able to keep up, if not surpass, the food security level of its ASEAN neighbors. The efforts of the government and the farmers, however, need to go hand in hand with significant investments from the private sector to modernize and move the sector forward. 5. The private sector must realize that upholding national interest and inclusive business models are sustainable pathways to increased profitability. They must be encouraged to include the protection of small farmers and fisherfolk and the supply chains in their corporate social responsibility portfolios. 6. Lastly, this summit envisions farmers and fisherfolk to ultimately seek their prosperity through cohesiveness and ability to be players in the evolving value chains for various commodities, where most margins are generated. Civil society and government should also strive to deliberately support inclusion of small farmers and fisherfolk in the value chains as we go beyond simply increasing yield but more towards value-adding. Read less

The National Food Security Summit directly focused on major agriculture and fisheries commodities and relevant cross-cutting issues and concerns, e.g. trade, credit, extension services and others, by looking at recent as well as decades-old and persistent agricultural problems, from a different framework. Using key strategies under the “One DA Reform Agenda” of the Philippine Department of Agriculture as operational frameworks, key challenges, gaps and areas of improvement were analyzed to identify, formulate and recommend strategic critical interventions. The “One DA Reform Agenda” ha... Read mores 18 key strategies that aim to steer agri-fishery growth and transformation toward a modern and industrialized Philippine agriculture. Read less

Please see attachement.

Please see attachement.

Please see attachement