Organic Agri law IRR promotes RP’s low carbon development
The implementing rules and regulation of Republic Act 10068 otherwise known as the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 will lead the country towards a low carbon development path with the shift from chemical intensive to ecologically-sound food production practices, organic farming advocates said.
Go Organic! Philippines, a network of organic farming advocates, issued the statement as various stakeholders will gather at the Queen Margaret Hotel in Lucena City, Quezon on November 16 to 18, 2010 for the 7th National Organic Agriculture Conference organized by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The La Liga Policy Institute (La Liga), a development policy research and advocacy nongovernment organization, which acts as the secretariat of the Go Organic! Philippines, is supporting the initiative to promote organic farming in the country.
Currently, La Liga and Go Organic! Philippines is pushing for Congress’ adoption of the proposed IRR for the organic agriculture law. The final draft was signed by DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and was submitted to the agriculture committees of the Philippine Senate headed by Senator Francis Pangilinan and the House of Representatives headed by Batangas 4th District Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza last week.
Roland Cabigas, managing director of La Liga and a convenor of Go Organic! Philippines said under Rule 2.2 of the IRR states that: “Organic agricultural systems, in its goal to reduce environmental pollution and ecosystem destruction and, prevent the depletion of natural resources, shall endeavor to promote the low carbon development path and its strategies.”
Meanwhile, Rule 5.1 states that the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB), through the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS) shall call upon all government agencies and instrumentalities, including the LGUs, academe, NGOs, Small Farmers Organizations (OSFO), Organic Farmers Organizations (OFOs), and RDE institutions, to submit their respective annual and long term Organic Agriculture plans taking into consideration climate change impact and mitigation, with emphasis on adaptation such as low carbon development path, disaster risk reduction and management, gender sensitive development, site specific ecosystem-based for consolidation and integration into a comprehensive National Organic Agriculture Program (NOAP).
Such NOAP formulated by said agencies shall observe the principle of bottom-up, multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation system.
On the other hand, Rule 13.2 states: “The adoption of organic agriculture through the implementation of NOAP projects and activities shall consider strategies to promote the low carbon development path.”
Low carbon development path is defined by the IRR as “growth that integrates positive impact on environment, minimizes if not eliminates green house gas emissions, taking into account long term sustainability.”
As part of its budget advocacy, La Liga is pushing for the country’s low carbon development through financing of specific climate change mitigation and adaptation measure.
A development policy research and advocacy nongovernment organization, La Liga also acts as secretariat of the Environment Cluster of the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI) and has been calling for a more climate sensitive 2011 budget through increased budget allocation. It is proposing for an additional P4.7 billion on top of Malacanang’s original budget proposal for the environment and natural resources sector of P13.1 billion.
With the support of the British Embassy in Manila, La Liga is also pushing for low carbon development through its integration in the next Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2011-2016.
“The IRR for RA 10068 is the first policy document under the Aquino administration that recognizes low carbon development path as a strategic framework in the promotion of Philippine agriculture,” Cabigas said.
He added that the IRR pushes for the promotion of organic agriculture as a framework and strategy that should guide the agricultural aspect of the new MTPDP currently being crafted by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
Republic Act 10068, otherwise known as the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, was signed into law on April 2010.
Source: http://goorganicphils.wordpress.com
