Abstract
This paper focuses on the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, which aims to promote organic agriculture in the Philippines and highlights the importance of consultation mechanisms to achieve this goal. The paper shows that up until now the Department of Agriculture and most local government units in the Philippines have not been seriously implementing the Act, and that there is a lack of strategy concerning the transition to organic farming. The latter would have to be carefully designed in order to avoid an excessive drop in yield for farmers and the resulting negative economic outcomes. Government support and incentives seem to be crucial to overcome these obstacles and the Act itself includes a section on incentives but these guidelines have not been reflected in actual government policy so far. The paper presents the findings of a deliberative mini-public that was organized in the Philippines to evaluate the perceived barriers to the implementation of the Act. The mini-public brought together a random sample of citizens who heard testimony from local experts and political leaders, and then used this information in conjunction with their own experiences to identify policy shortcomings and develop recommendations for policymakers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the importance and benefits of adopting deliberative democracy to make decisions about complex food policy issues.
Presenters
Matteo BonottiAssociate Professor of Politics and International Relations, School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Organic Agriculture, Philippines, Deliberative Democracy, Mini-Publics, Implementation, Incentives
