Challenges In Attaining Food Security Webinar
Date:
August 31, 2020
Location: Webinar via Zoom
The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact has been massive and deep, and will be felt over the long run. The challenges it posed to the country have forced both the government and the private sector to quickly strategize to respond effectively, both to the public health crisis and the economic backlash from quarantines.
The latest GDP data on the second quarter economic performance at the height of crippling lockdowns highlighted the critical role of agriculture in the nation’s survival.
Despite the disruptions to the food supply and logistics networks, agriculture proved to be resilient in the face of crisis, as many business sectors in urban areas and local government units found ways to empower farmers and fishermen by going straight to them, buying their produce and bringing them to scores of cities where outright food subsidies had to be given to households as millions of workers lost their jobs. The pandemic also underscored the need to ensure food security, including the social, economic and environmental sustainability of food systems.
How can this quick, decisive strategizing and creative problem-solving be sustained moving forward? Such will be the focus of a webinar organized by the BusinessMirror in partnership with Fiera de Manila, Inc. on “Agriculture, Food Security and Lessons from the Pandemic” on August 31, 1:30-4:30pm PST via Zoom, live in Facebook and YouTube , with the theme, “The Challenges of Attaining Food Security.”
Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista of the Department of Agriculture and Mr. Anthony Dizon, president of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines will be lead discussants, along with Dr. Mary Ann P. Sayoc, Lead for Public Affairs of the East West Seed Group and noted economist and BusinessMirror columnist, UP Prof. Rene Ofreneo.
With San Miguel Corp. as Platinum Sponsor, the forum is also supported by East West Seed, with the Philippine Graphic magazine, Pilipino Mirrror, CNN and DWIZ as media partners plus our Out of home LED Billboard provider, DOOH.
Moderating the forum is BusinessMirror’s multi-awarded Agriculture reporting team, led by Associate Editor Jennifer A. Ng and reporter Jasper Arcalas
The Resource Speakers and Experts
Kristine Evangelista
Assistant Secretary
Department of Agriculture
Asec Evangelista is in-charge of AgriBusiness and Marketing Assistance Services. This entails:
Overseeing of Kadiwa Operations including Kadiwa Online/Kadiwa Retail Selling/Kadiwa on Wheels/and the KadiwaPetron Stations that provide farmers and SMEs a venue to sell agri products.
The importance of Kadiwa has been highlighted during the pandemic, as it gave the government a platform to support and empower farmers to eliminate certain layers that delay and add undue costs to farmers in marketing their produce.
She is also tasked to provide agriculture training.
Anthony S. Dizon
Founding President
Cold Chain Association of the Philippines
An Electrical Engineer with an MBA, Mr. Dizon is:
Founding President of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines organized in 2002 under the auspices and with the support of the Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.
He is President of Koldstor Centre Philippines, Inc., a third party logistics company offering refrigerated and ambient warehousing facilities and complete distribution services to food processing and importing companies.
He is President of Ideamorphosis, Inc., operator of a fleet of eutectic refrigeration trucks and supplier of eutectic equipment and other cold chain accessories.
He has 40 years of career experience in the Philippine steel manufacturing industry. He is ocurrently involved in policy formulation and strategic planning activities for steel industry development.
Dr. Mary Ann P. Sayoc
Lead for Public Affairs
East West Seed Corporation Philippines
Dr. Sayoc is Public Affairs Lead at East West Seed Corporation Philippines, a Dutch company engaged in research, development, production, and distribution of vegetable seeds. East-West Seed is the market leader for tropical vegetable seeds in Asia and developing markets in Africa and Latin-America.
She has 18 years of experience in the vegetable seed industry. Prior to her stint in the private sector, Dr. Sayoc had a long career in government, responsible for implementing agriculture programs on crops, livestock, fisheries, irrigation, farm mechanization, and agriculture extension and training.
She held key positions in the Department of Agriculture as Regional Director of Regions 4 A & B and Executive Director of the Agricultural Training Institute.
Dr. Sayoc is active in the local and international seed sector.
She is currently President of the Philippine Seed Industry Association.
She was recently elected to the Board of the International Seed Federation and the Executive Board of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an international organization working to safeguard crop diversification.
Prof. Rene Ofreneo
Economist and Columnist
Business Mirror
A noted economist, Prof. Ofreneo is a BusinessMirror columnist and former Dean of the UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SOLAIR).
He is professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and current President of the Integrated Rural Development Foundation (IRDF), which works and partners with communities and organizations of smallholders, fishers, women, indigenous peoples, agricultural workers and youth. He is also President of the Freedom from Debt Coalition.
He is author of ‘Green Jobs and Green Skills in a Brown Philippine Economy,’published by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and UP Press.
Register Today!
https://www.fmi.com.ph/events/bm-webinar
For registration, call: +63-917-522-7346
email: norelyn@fmi.com.ph, www.fmi.com.ph
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