Beyond the here and now

The above title came after the writer read this Editorial: "Attending to agriculture," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5th Aug 2019.

"The agriculture sector has been the weakest link in ensuring high, sustainable economic growth for the country. For the past several years, it has hardly contributed to the overall economic growth story. It is urgent, then, that the government give more attention to why this is so and find solutions to uplift the circumstances of farmers and fishermen and the sector.

"The availability of financing for the sector, for instance, has long been a problem. Previous administrations attempted to improve agriculture's access to formal financing, but banks have continually shied away from lending to what they consider a ‘risky' sector.

"More importantly, the government should spearhead a move to organize farmers and fisherfolk to form cooperatives.

"Individually, they may be high-risk borrowers. But collectively, farmers and fishermen can become viable by having economies of scale; they can buy, for example, fertilizers and seeds in bulk direct from suppliers, or secure transport services for their collective produce, at a lower cost.

"The Duterte administration should also look into putting someone at the Department of Agriculture with the sole vision of uplifting farmers and fisherfolk, who can craft programs toward this objective and who has the ability to coordinate with other agencies like the Department of Public Works and Highways (to identify the needed farm-to-market road projects) and the cooperatives agency to effectively implement the necessary programs.

"In the end, leadership remains an all-important key to finally help the vital but long-neglected agriculture sector escape the doldrums and become a vibrant contributor to the country's economic life."

What is beyond the here and now? Indeed, leadership is vital, but it goes beyond making the agricultural sector a vibrant contributor to the country's economic life.

Consider: We must traverse the road from poverty to prosperity, move from underdeveloped to a developed economy and country. What if we set our sights higher than to bring the poverty rate lower?

What are we missing?

(A) Can we embrace reality as demonstrated by our neighbors? They reduced poverty but coming from a different mindset and direction. They begged for Western money and technology. In an earlier posting, the blog spelled out how Mahathir did it, for example.

(B) Are we unwittingly reinforcing hierarchy and paternalism? Not giving precedence to Western money and technology has translated to serving the spoils to oligarchy while we tend to poverty.

Let's pause and ask: What will it take for us to recognize and acknowledge that our neighbors can show us the way? What will it take for us to accept that those who had traversed the road to civilization earlier like the West and more recently our neighbors have a thing or two to share with us? In other words, we don't have to keep reinventing the wheel.

Indeed, a vision is a rare commodity because it is beyond the here and now. It won't come until we recognize (which is a function of lateral thinking) that there are several dots that we must connect – i.e., industrialization, innovation, and global competitiveness.

On the other hand, linear thinking tells us financing is paramount. To be sure, it is essential. However, until we "begin with the end in mind," our ability to identify the requisite dots and connect them will fall short. Recall Habit no. 2 of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is a great exercise to develop dynamism and foresight.

As some would know, the writer has been involved in innovation and global competitiveness for almost 40 years, the last 16 as a volunteer development worker. That is why the blog often speaks to his Eastern European friends. They have developed the instincts of innovation and global competitiveness beyond their native intelligence and creativity. They've created over a dozen multimillion-dollar brands marketed in different countries. They have become giant killers.

The success of the first two brands became the building blocks of their track record, and Western banks stepped forward. Financing is essential but not a barrier if the head is in the right place. They're driven by a mission, to be the best in the business. What about the competition?

Winners attract adherents and so third parties came to offer their technologies that this once cottage industry in the poorest country in Europe, beyond its R&D, has gained access to state-of-the-art innovations.

Let's get back to Philippine agriculture. There is something beyond the here and now, but it demands dynamism and foresight. Vietnam is beyond beating us and equaling our total exports with one export partnership, the one with Samsung. They beat us in rice, and they are second only to Brazil in coffee production.

So, our response is to uplift farmers and fisherfolk? That is again livelihood, a low bar, not a high bar as in "the end in view." Vietnam, like China and Malaysia, and earlier, the Asian Tigers is globally competitive. They are beyond uplifting their farmers and fisherfolk. Consider: The law of nature as postulated by Darwin is about adaptation lest species go extinct, aka dynamism. In the 21st century, it means to innovate or perish.

If we aren't parochial and insular, we would instinctively identify a benchmark to test our ideas, and not reinvent the wheel. As the blog has discussed before, Japan benchmarked its submarine initiative by disassembling a British submarine. Also, Toyota developed the Lexus premium line by the same exercise with German premium cars.

The writer's Eastern European friends killed a Western brand that was the market leader in their home market by benchmarking against the world's number one competitive brand. It's a feather in their cap although history says it is not unique. Can we Pinoys imagine David and Goliath? Consider: IBM owns the most patents in the world. How come a young Steve Jobs can pull the rug from under them?

How should we rethink agriculture? Take our fisherfolk. How can we make their products competitive? We know and write about it all the time: we must move up the value chain. For example, beyond cold storage for fish, we see packaged smoked fish in supermarkets or canned sardines, among zillion others.

The daughter and son-in-law were recently in Portugal and came home with canned pâtés, not liver but shrimp and mackerel. Beyond raw fish, there are ways to move up the value chain.

So, we are back to the imperative to industrialize. We can't see beyond the here and now if we keep to livelihood and jobs. What are their sources, is the question we must ask?

For example, we believe that MSMEs are key. Not the way we think about it, i.e., livelihood. The writer from day-one had to disabuse the minds of his then-new friends: they will never thrive as a micro-enterprise. Not in this era of innovation and global competition. "You think you can compete against the biggest Western companies in the industry? If you do, you must first recognize that you must be a one-hundred-million-dollar enterprise." At the time, it was the median size of an MNC subsidiary. In other words, it was the benchmark.

In our case, we talk incessantly about our GDP growth rates in the 5%-7% range. They are meaningless, except for those in the economic mainstream, especially oligarchy. On the one hand, we rail against our being unequal, on the other, we are a party to this wrongheadedness. We know we are an underdeveloped economy and nation. The "end in view" is to be wealthy and a developed country – to traverse the road from poverty to prosperity.

The bottom line: We must set our sights on a benchmark, say Vietnam or any of our neighbors if we are to figure out how to traverse the journey from poverty to prosperity. Livelihoods and jobs are euphemisms. We will be stuck in the here and now until we step up to reality and overcome evasiveness.

Why are we the regional laggard despite celebrating the OFW phenomenon and the BPO industry?

We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism, rely on political patronage and oligarchy, that at the end of the day, ours is a culture of impunity. They rob us of dynamism and foresight.

Gising bayan!

"Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it." [We are ruled by Rizal's ‘tyrants of tomorrow,' Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]

"Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law' (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant." [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

"As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists and editors – have an obligation to this country . . ." [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]

"National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country's natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency's value, as classical economics insists . . . A nation's competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade." [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]

"You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan, focus, work hard and be very determined to achieve your goals." [Henry Sy Sr., Chairman Emeritus and Founder, SM Group (1924 - 2019)]

"Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow." [William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]

"Development [is informed by a people's] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . ." [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]