By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
There is no denying that the Philippines has vast agricultural land, and at one point led the ASEAN region in the agricultural industry. Needless to say, many neighbors in the region studied in the Philippines to enhance their capabilities and utilize the technical skills in their respective countries.
However, despite the strength of the Philippines being an agricultural country, this opportunity slipped away and was lorded over by some astute students in the region.
Mindful of the opportunities that Philippines have, the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines recently held a webinar entitled, “The Philippines’ Agritech Industry: Opportunities for Growth and Innovation.” The webinar highlighted the importance of applying technology into the Philippines’ current agricultural and farming system to keep up with the increasing demand for food.
During the digital event, Dr. Reynaldo Ebora, Executive Director of PCAARRD-DOST provided an overview of the country’s present Agritech industry and identified the sector’s challenges. Among these challenges identified were supply chain inefficiencies caused by travel restrictions and secondly, disruption in the agri-food supply chain wherein supply and demand shocks have increased fluctuations in commodity prices of food such as rice, banana and meat.
Moreover, these challenges can be addressed by adapting innovative technological solutions by agritech startups as well as forging partnerships with foreign startup firms, particularly from the UK which is known for their robust research and development into agriculture.
For Zella Quilla, National Project Development and Coordination Specialist of FAO Philippines, digital technologies innovation are important to strengthen and modernize the agriculture sector even further to ensure a resilient agri-food system.
Through this webinar, the Chamber also featured two promising agritech startups. One of them is iFarms, a Philippine-based agritech startup, where their CEO and Founder, Jairus Ferrer explained how their work helps connect the buyers and the farmers through the Umá app.
On the other hand, Chris Davies, CEO and Founder of Harvest London, expounded on the many advantages that vertical farming brings, from taking up less agricultural land to removing the need to transport food from farms and provinces to the urban cities where distance and time are usually a challenge.
While all the panelists have a positive outlook in the UK and Philippines’ agritech industry amidst the pandemic, partnership and collaboration between the public and private sectors was given the spotlight to develop further innovation.
In light of this fruitful activity, the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines will continue to host digital events to inform UK companies of present opportunities for investments and collaborations available in the Philippines.
