UN Headquarters, New York
September 27, 2018

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol led the Philippine delegation in participating in the Ministerial Breakfast on the Implementation of the Decade of Family Farming at the UN Headquarters in New York.

In his message, Secretary Piñol said that the Philippine government has been actively implementing policies and initiatives on agriculture and fishing to address rural poverty. He cited the launching of a loan assistance program for small farmers and fisher folks that positively impacted the lives of the beneficiaries and reduced rural poverty in the Philippines. With a repayment rate of 98% nationwide, the government decided to increase funding and expand the loan assistance program after a year of implementation.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, one of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is ending poverty and achieving Zero Hunger, which requires “partnerships that boost investments in rural development to support small-scale family farmers, especially women and youth, tackle some of the root causes that force people to migrate, and address the impacts of climate change.”

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