THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) is urging the government to tap the “intellectual capital” of higher education institutions (HEIs) to boost food security and economic recovery by fostering a “knowledge economy (KE)” amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis. It maximizes use of human capital to enrich productivity and aid food production, and the manufacturing and services industries. Their recommendation is for HEI’s human capital to contribute to the development of priority areas relevant to four pillars of food security: food availability; access to food; stability of food supply; and utilization of food for nutrition, health and safety. These, it noted, should reach out to the needs of society — produce food, solve hunger and malnutrition, and help transform farmers into profitable entrepreneurs. Long-established agriculture HEIs in the Philippines need to partner with the government that provides policies and funding for initiatives in technologies, according to Searca.

Source: Manila Times July 22, 2020 16:55 UTC