Farmers from Guimba town in Nueva Ecija province harvest palay to ensure food security amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. — CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of young agricultural professionals are set to be deployed to various offices and projects under the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Government Internship Program (GIP).
Under the agreement signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Agriculture Secretary William Dar, hundreds of technical and agricultural biosystems engineers and graduates will be employed by the Department of Agriculture, a project seen to fill the gap in the demand for the profession in the agriculture sector.
The agricultural professionals will be deployed to various government projects and offices in the country, Bello said in a statement Sunday.
The DOLE-GIP is a program that aims to provide opportunities and engage young workers to serve in government agencies, projects, and programs at the national and local levels.
The internship period covers three to six months and the stipend is equivalent to the existing minimum wage of the region where the beneficiary is employed. The intern shall also be entitled to insurance coverage.
Bello noted that based on the JobsFit Labor Market Information Report 2022, several jobs in the agribusiness sector are classified as in-demand but hard to fill.
He said these posts include agricultural economists, animal husbandry, aqua-culturists, and several others in the field of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
Bello also pointed out that the Philippines, although “transitioning to an economy with more emphasis on manufacturing and service,” is still an agricultural country where nearly one-third of the labor force is employed in agriculture, particularly in farming, fisheries, forestry, and livestock.
He noted that developing the rural sector is a significant step for the country to provide more jobs for the poor.
“From the labor and employment perspective, the development of the rural sector is a crucial first step for the country to provide more and better jobs for the poor. Three-quarters of the poor are found in the rural areas and agriculture employs most of the poor, which means agriculture plays a key role in efficiently reducing poverty,” said Bello.
RELATED STORIES
Where have PH farmers gone? Neda tracks 7-yr dip in agri labor
Agriculture still least attractive economic sector