East-West Seed's Mary Ann Sayoc is PPSA's new Private Sector Co-Chair

The Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA) recently announced East-West Seed, represented by Public Affairs Lead Dr. Mary Ann Sayoc, as its new Private Sector Co-Chair.

Together with Secretary William Dar of the Department of Agriculture - Philippines and PPSA members, Dr. Sayoc will drive partnerships with national and international networks to achieve sustainable agriculture.

PPSA is a network of companies, government agencies, civil society organizations, farmer groups and financial institutions working together to improve farmers’ profitability and productivity while increasing the environmental sustainability of their farms.

PPSA was catalyzed by Grow Asia, a partnership platform initiated by the World Economic Forum and the ASEAN Secretariat.

Read the interview from PPSA with Dr. Sayoc: 

1. What are you most excited about in being the private sector Co-Chair of PPSA?

I am most excited about bringing together business, civil society, farmer groups, and the Department of Agriculture in mounting scalable solutions to increase the productivity and income of smallholder farmers through efficient and sustainable value chains.

2. As someone who has a wide range of experience both in the public and private sectors, what do you plan to bring to PPSA's multi-stakeholder platform?

I plan to bring to PPSA's multi-stakeholder platform the knowledge network I have built from the time I worked with DA up to the time that I moved to the private sector. I would like to share East West Seed's long experience in engaging with various partners and stakeholders in improving the capacity of smallholder farmers through its Knowledge Transfer program.

3. What do you think are the three (3) most pressing issues of the agriculture or fisheries sector? Why?

a. Access to technology and innovation. The only way to modernize Philippine agriculture is to professionalize farming by adopting technological innovations.

b. Access to finance. Technology and innovation require capital investments which farmers cannot afford. There is a need to provide infrastructure support and low-interest credit facilities for farmers and other value chain actors to invest in modern machinery and equipment.

c. Enabling policy environment. There is a pressing need to review and amend existing laws, policies, and regulations that are outdated and may no longer be relevant. These are hurdles to the effective implementation of strategic interventions in agriculture.

4. How can a unique multi-stakeholder partnership platform such as PPSA help address these issues?

PPSA can help address these issues by providing a platform for various stakeholders to engage, discuss, collaborate, and bring to life initiatives and best practices of individual companies into a collective action aimed at improving the lives of smallholder farmers and promoting inclusive growth.

5. Where do you see PPSA in the next five years or so? 

I see PPSA five years and beyond as a strong organization with active and engaged working groups and committees working closely together in a spirit of mutual trust and consensus-building. I hope to see PPSA as the partnership platform of choice of government, business, civil society, academe, and farmer groups in addressing the challenges of the agriculture sector.   

Read the full announcement of PPSA here: Click Here