Agri infrastructure investment seen boosting farm employment

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said strategic infrastructure investments are needed to stabilize employment in agriculture, with recent job gains in the industry attributed to seasonal factors.

“If the Department of Agriculture can create more permanent jobs by building the right infrastructure, including food hubs, cold storage facilities, agricultural ports, and food processing complexes, then we will not only uplift the lives of those who till our lands and fish our seas. We will also position agriculture as a far stronger contributor to the broader economy,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said in a statement. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported recently that agriculture employed 10.44 million workers in October, accounting for 21.5% of the national workforce. 

Employment in agriculture rose 1.85 million jobs from July, the largest sectoral increase. However, according to the DA, the growth likely reflected seasonal harvest cycles rather than sustained improvement.

Agriculture also accounted for 32.9% of the 2.54 million workers deemed underemployed in October.

The DA said the data highlight the need to address the seasonality of work and underemployment while strengthening agriculture’s contribution to the economy.

“Agriculture can create jobs quickly, but the responsibility of the DA is to ensure those jobs become lasting and stable,” Mr. Laurel said. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel