The National Organic Agriculture Program

(2012 – 2016)

Antiquiera, Marianne Feliz

Dasmariñas, Elden Jean

Gomez, Ma. Angeli

Quidato, Myra

Serafino, Gercel Therese

Sillo, Hanna Barbara

September 2018
NINE ELEMENTS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE
A. Rule of Law

In the case of the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP), there can be better rule of law if:

1. The scope and limitation of the program is clearly defined in the practical level: there are
clear rules as to what the executive body of the program can and cannot do;
2. The implementing rules and regulations of the program are within the powers delegated to
its creating board, the NOAB, by virtue of the Republic Act 10068;
3. All activities are modeled out of the desired outcomes of the program as stated in its
objectives; and
4. All decisions undertaken by the institutions powered by NOAP should be based off the
programs’ statutes and not merely from a political votation.

B. Participation

Several different sectors of the society participated in the NOAP of the government. They included
national government agencies, non-government organizations, private firms, local government units,
state universities and colleges, farmers, and indigenous people. Each of these sectors has
representative in the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB). So the NOAP did well in terms of
participation.

The only thing that is missing is the participation of the consumer sector. Two of the program’s goals
and objectives are to contribute to better farm incomes and sustainable livelihood, and to improve
the health of the farmers and consumers. In regard to these goals and objectives, it is important to
have the consumer sector participate in the program. The government might be successful in
promoting organic farming to the farmers, but is it sellable enough to contribute to their income?
Are the consumers willing to buy organic products? It is important to determine the market value of
the product, and it can only be done through the consumers.

C. Transparency

The NOAP also did well in terms of transparency. The government and the NOAB made sure that all
the information is available to be viewed by everyone. However, this information is useless if the
common people are not aware that a program like NOAP is being done by the government.

The common people should be informed about these kinds of program. The LGUs could have the
Barangay officials arrange a talk about organic agriculture, especially to communities where farming
is the primary or secondary livelihood. There might be people who knows about the program but are
not informed of the essential information about it. The common people should also be informed
that all the necessary information is available for them to see. Through this, it could also increase the
number of people who would prefer organic products. It will further improve the transparency of
the program, as well as contribute to the element of participation of the different sectors of the
society.
 D. Responsiveness

1. The website should be updated and that articles or current/latest news are also written in
tagalog/common language.
2. The feedbacks/comments should be surely processed and considered.
3. Provide an up-to-date inspection of the farms by the regional officers- in-charge to better
and be hands-on in determining what their other needs are.
4. Allocation of budget for stakeholders involve when calamities damaged their produce.
5. Close monitoring on the regulation/restriction of the use of inorganic pesticides and/or
insecticides and effort to measure policy coherence
6. Provide opportunities for product exports
7. Use of social media accounts as a platform of information dissemination aside from the
website.
8. Promotion of sustainable economic reforms.

E. Consensus

1. Utilize the use of technology (such as videoconferencing) to held meetings to reduce costs
for travelling.
2. Renewal of the representatives from private and public stakeholder groups in the period
decided by the board to be able to give opportunities to other stakeholders to represent the
interest/cause of their group and to avoid abuse of power.
3. Provide information to the stakeholders days prior to the meeting or decision making
session/consultation so that everyone understands and be able to give their
suggestions/recommendations and arrive to the best solution possible.

F. Effectiveness and Efficiency

Listed below are some of the things the government can do to begin improving efficiency and
effectiveness on a wider scale.

1. Prioritize management and operations.

Upon identifying government waste, agencies involved in the program must make
actionable solutions that address effectiveness and efficiency and make it as their priority. In
this way, real progress can be made and money can be saved.

2. Incentivize agency leaders.

If we want to get serious about innovation and large-scale government efficiency, we need
to start empowering the leaders. Agency chiefs should have the authority to shift budgets,
address poor performance in the workplace and propose innovative solutions to real
problems. Leaders must be supported by a Congress and an administration willing to address
legislative, regulatory and cultural barriers to program efficiency.

3. Hold executives and managers accountable.

 Agency leaders must deliver real outcomes that are aligned with missions and goals. If they
demonstrate proven performance, reward them. If not, replace them. Accountability means
eliminating the “check the box” culture and recognizing that metrics are not equivalent to
measured results. It is time to embark on a large-scale change management initiative to
make real accountability a central value of the workforce.

4. Assess programs. Many large-scale systems and programs are implemented and then
forgotten. Programs must be closely monitored after the work has begun. Reviews should be
required to demonstrate that programs are still valid, effective and appropriate and that
they are achieving measurable success.

5. Do things right. It sounds naive, but the government should make decisions based on quality
data. They need the capacity and tools to focus on widespread efficiency and effectiveness,
and they need to work with agencies and workers to get the job done. Agency leaders need
to “plan, do, validate, achieve.”

G. Equity

To imposed equal treatment, the program‘s policy should be directed with impartiality, fairness, and
justice towards the beneficiaries. The officials involved in the project must not display biased
treatment to any members and beneficiaries.

Also, as not to limit the role of the farmers as mere beneficiaries only, NOAP must give them a
proper guidance, training, institutional and resource support to become implementers and partners
in the conduct of research. In this way, they could stand independently on their own and at the same
time, they could help their fellow farmers.

In the distribution of the seeds, the program must set proper rules on which it could help to
determine the adequate and right amount of the seeds to allocate to each farmer or beneficiary. In
addition to this, they must ensure that the official assigned must not show biased treatment to any
beneficiaries.

To promote equality between males and females, NAOP must ensure a gender perspective in the
process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including
legislation, policies or programs, in all areas and at all levels. In such way, gender mainstreaming
would be necessary to advance gender equality and equity in the development of plans and
programs for organic agriculture. To be truly effective, crafting of policies, plans, programs, and
projects should take into account the differing needs and conditions of women and men in the
sector. The organic agriculture development plan will have to consider policies, plans, programs and
projects that will strive for more equal rights, benefits and opportunities, and participation in all
activities for both men and women.

The policy embedded in the program is not only to ensure that it is properly regulated but also
promotes equality and equity to all beneficiaries.

H. Strategic Vision
In order to achieve the goals or visions of the organization which is to become a vagriculture sector
that contributing an overall growth and development of the country, in terms of sustainability,
competitiveness and food security; the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP) should present
the ideal, but an achievable outcome. They must consider the factors that could affect the
implementation of the project. Moreover, they must set parameters or limitations in their overall
strategy to ensure that they do not overdo the strategic visions they set. Furthermore, the most
effective way to have a good strategic vision is to ask the beneficiaries and the officials involved in
the program and know what they really need in order to effectively implement it. They should firsts
interview the farmers before conceptualizing the details of the said project so that they could really
know what they must put in the program and also to know what appropriate action they should do.

Overall the NOAP aims to promote, propagate, further develop and implement the practice of
organic agriculture in the Philippines towards a competitive and sustainable organic industry that
contributes to better farm incomes and sustainable livelihood, improved health, environmental
protection, disaster risk reduction and resilience to climate change, and social justice.

To accomplish these following goals, NOAP must do the following:

1. Increased farm productivity, reduced expenses on imported farm inputs, better incomes
for farmers and reduction of poverty in the rural sector;
2. Protect the health of farmers, consumers and the public in general;
3. Enhanced soil fertility and farm biodiversity, reduced pollution and destruction of the
environment as well as prevention of further depletion of natural resources;
4. Improved resiliency to disaster risks and climate change vulnerabilities caused by human
interventions and naturally induced hazards through diversification and less exposure to
external inputs; and
5. Meeting the basic materials needs and improving the standard of living for all, upholding
human rights, gender equality, labor standards and the right to self-determination.

Moreover, the project must incorporate the laws that appropriate and that could help defines the
overall framework and strategies of their program. Also, they must provide an indication of its key
performance measures.

Key program strategies for the successful NOAP are as follows: continuous policy, legal and
institutional reforms, the public-private partnership, participatory/ multi-stakeholder process,
integration/ convergence with existing development initiatives, local-national-global relationship,
counter parting/ cost-sharing, and ecologically- sound, socially acceptable and area-based
interventions. These strategies must consistent with the thrust of the current leadership of the
Department of Agriculture (DA) on broad- based growth and development ; better grass-roots
participation in development efforts; adherence to certain quality assurance system; and lastly,
further strengthening national-local and global linkages for OA.

To address the challenges and issues facing of the sector, there must be programmatic development
intervention including positively contributing to the overall equitable growth and development
envisioned in the Philippine Development Plan as well as in the Agri-Pinoy Framework and Strategy
of the current leadership of Department of Agriculture.

I. Accountability
The accountability could be further improved if:

1. Establish periodic updates for organic farmers to be notified about any announcements from
organic certifying authorities and representatives.
2. BAFPS should, in cooperation with the Quad Media – IEC, publicize the criteria of how
products are certified as organic.