Full-fledged workforce, focused plans and interventions, and hardworking organic practitioners and industry players translate to the country’s intensified organic agriculture.

Owing to the recent amendment of the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 or R.A. 10068, now R.A. 11511, the National Organic Agriculture Program – National Program Coordinating Office (NOAP-NPCO) was established as an office with its own plantilla positions and additional functions. The NOAP-NPCO also serves as the planning and administrative secretariat of the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB) chaired by President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

With this full-fledged workforce of the DA-NOAP, organic practitioners are expecting a more intensified public service and interventions from the Program especially on the grassroots level.

“Our dream is to have organic alternatives in all commodities and products to minimize the negative impact of agriculture in the environment,” Director Bernadette F. San Juan, CESO II, National Program Coordinator of NOAP said in an interview.

Because of this reason, the NOAP implements various organic agriculture (OA) programs that cover the whole value chain from production, value-adding, and processing, up to marketing, to increase OA adopters and areas to further strengthen the industry.

The Program is strengthening the OA certification through the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) for the integrity of organic produce and products. They also grant youth scholarships and livelihood projects to OA practitioners to aid in their plight and contribute to increasing the number of practitioners and production. The program is also assisting in the massive production of organic fertilizers and soil ameliorants through the Composting Facilities for Biodegradable Wastes or CFBW and Small-Scale Composting Facilities or SSCF. Aside from these, the Program is currently conducting research on natural crop pests and disease management practices in the Philippines to help our organic farmers without the use of harmful chemicals.

Meanwhile, the NOAP is reinforcing the interventions of the Program in the local governments through the conduct of the nationwide #OksaOA Information Caravan and encouraging local executives to allocate funds and adopt an ordinance that will support and protect the organic industry within its jurisdiction for the attainment of Masaganang Agrikultura at Maunlad na Ekonomiya.

Joint Memorandum Circular between DA and DILG.

The Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 or Republic Act 10068, as amended by RA 11511, recognizes the essential role of the Local Government Units in the implementation of the National Organic Agriculture Program, especially at the grassroots level. The amended Act also mandated the LGUs to promulgate appropriate provincial and/or municipal/city ordinances or resolutions that shall promote the participatory and bottom-up approach to grassroots organic agricultural programs and projects in their respective jurisdictions.

Thus, the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 01, Series of 2022 between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) entitled, Revised Guidelines on the Roles and Responsibilities of Local Government Units (LGUs) in the Implementation of the National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP) pursuant to Republic Act No. 10068, as Amended by Republic Act No. 11511, and it’s Implementing Rules and Regulations was published on February 6, 2023, to strengthen the integration of organic agriculture in their local communities.

Following the issuance of the JMC, the NOAP-NPCO spearheaded the rollout of the nationwide #OksaOA Information Caravan. The activity also aims to raise awareness and a better understanding of the amended Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 and to institutionalize organic agriculture programs at the local level.

To be able to effectively carry out the mandates of RA 11511 and in order for the LGUs to conveniently adopt an OA ordinance that will protect and support their organic practitioners and zones, the NOAP-NPCO prepared a template ordinance that serves as their guide in crafting their own ordinances that are tailor-fit in their respective localities. These templates were thoroughly presented and discussed during the caravans.

During the caravans, NOAP interventions and core services were also introduced and discussed in the LGUs, including the Provision of Youth Scholarship Grant on Organic Farming, and the Organic Agriculture Livelihood Program (OALP). The NOAP-NPCO also maximizes the caravan to consult and gather data from Organic Farmers’ Cooperative and Associations (FCAs) and to discuss their issues and challenges through organic agriculture profiling forms.

From February to July 4, 2023, the Program covered 327 LGUs nationwide. Of the 236 LGUs, 26 came from PLGUs; 21 from CLGUs; and 280 from MLGUs. As of date, 231 LGUs are in the process of crafting and planning their ordinances that are in line with the amended Organic Agriculture Act; 95 LGUs are to amend their existing ordinance; and 1 LGU with a newly amended ordinance.

OA Livelihood Project (OALP)

OALP aims to serve as the business integrator of organic farms producing and supplying organic inputs, providing farm services, as well as consolidating and marketing organic produce and products.

For 2023, NOAP allocated 299 million for OALP to be given to its eligible beneficiaries such as certified Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) Groups, registered Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) intending to become PGS groups, Indigenous People's Organizations, and LGUs with ordinance and programs on organic agriculture.

Youth Internship and Scholarship Program in Organic Agriculture

NOAP, in collaboration with the DA-Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), implemented a highly specialized 21-month internship program to instill and develop appreciation and eagerness among youth and empower them to become organic agripreneur. Through the program, the trainee/scholars are given a monthly stipend (P5,000.00 for the 1st year and P10,000.00 for the 2nd year) and start-up support worth P150,000.00.

Last April, 150 trainees/scholars were deployed to 73 farm partners all over the country. They will be trained on-site by the farm partners for 9 months and are targeted to graduate in November. Afterward, they will start and implement their proposed enterprise for a year which will serve as their hands-on practice.

Farm partners are also given a monthly mentorship fee worth P5,000.00 per trainee/scholar for 21 months.

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