In early March, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visited two farming promotion and marketing groups in southern Taiwan’s Chiayi County. Part of an industry fact-finding tour before she took office May 20, the trip involved a sit-down with farmers who had gathered from across the region. During the session, Tsai reaffirmed her three-pronged strategy for re-engineering Taiwan’s agricultural sector.
“The first step is to establish a new paradigm balancing the need to protect farmers, spur sector growth and achieve sustainability,” she said, adding that it is crucial to create a safety certification system in line with international standards and set up a state-backed export promotion company to market Taiwan’s offerings abroad.
“It takes courage and determination to accomplish these goals, and I’m fully committed to working with all parties to ensure the sun does not set on our once glorious agricultural industry.”
Rich soil and pure water make Yilan Plain in northeastern Taiwan one of the most fertile lands in the country.
Addressing Issues
Before becoming a global high-tech powerhouse, Taiwan was renowned for its exports of top-grade camphor, sugar cane and tea. As the nation’s industrial sectors developed in tandem with the international economy, its agriculture fell by the wayside. The latest Council of Agriculture (COA) statistics show that farming output was NT$245.2 billion (US$7.5 billion) in 2015, down 0.7 percent from the year before, while around 559,000 individuals with an average age of 62.03 years worked 796,618 hectares of farmland.
COA Minister Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) said in line with Tsai’s strategy, his agency is working to strengthen the agricultural sector and return it to its former glory. “Given Taiwan’s susceptibility to natural disasters and the increasing effects of climate change, one of our priorities is introducing more insurance programs to better protect farmers from flooding and strong winds caused by typhoons.”
Starting last November on a trial basis, Tsao said 50 hectares of sand pear plantations in several of Taiwan’s municipalities were insured under commercial policies partially subsidized by the COA. “We’ll soon broaden the scope to include farming facilities, mangoes, rice and sugar apples, among other items.
“Our goal is to have at least 40 percent of locally grown produce covered by similar policies and to this end, we’re drafting a bill for fast-tracked legislative approval next year ensuring adequate government oversight of the process.”
While labor shortages are a prevailing problem in many of Taiwan’s industries, they are particularly pressing in the agricultural sector. Compounding this situation, the COA expects an estimated 110,000 senior farmers, or nearly 20 percent of the current workforce, to put down their plowshares in the next 10 years.
“A promising solution is for farmers’ associations to provide training for the unemployed in rural areas and assign them on a needs basis,” Tsao said. “This kind of arrangement offers great flexibility considering the seasonal nature of farming.”
Working Together
The COA is also cooperating with the Ministry of Labor in setting up a platform providing short-term placement services. “We’re leaving no stone unturned in assisting more locals to take up farming, with the introduction of foreign laborers the last resort,” Tsao added.
Equally important is the need to attract younger entrants to the agricultural sector. According to the minister, the COA initiated a program earlier this year offering full scholarships to 40 undergraduates majoring in related disciplines at National Chiayi University. “In light of the enthusiastic response to the initiative, we’ll increase the number of scholarships to 200 next year at four tertiary institutions, and may further expand the program going forward,” he said.
As with most labor-intensive industries, automation can help ease the manpower crunch. The COA is offering subsidies of up to NT$5.5 million (US$169,250) for the purchase of specialized agricultural machinery by farming co-ops. “This policy benefits local machinery producers by assisting them improve the quality of their products.”
Building a globally competitive agricultural sector requires more than production efficiency. Tsao views the reputation and safety of the produce as of the utmost importance, and strongly supports the upgrading of Taiwan’s certification procedures to international standards.
“We’re taking steps to phase out the existing Good Agricultural Practice [GAP] and Certified Agricultural Standards [CAS] labels in four years and replace them with the Taiwan/Traceability Agricultural Product [TAP] certification system,” he said, explaining that TAP is the local version of the international farm assurance program GlobalG.A.P.
But progressive policymaking and private sector efforts alone are not enough to guarantee the future of Taiwan’s agriculture. Tsao is firmly of the opinion that the impact of these undertakings on the environment must be taken into consideration if the sector is to thrive and not just survive. “This is why we are promoting eco-friendly and organic farming. In fact, our goal is doubling to 1,000 hectares in 2017 the amount of land allocated for these models,” he said.
Bigger Role
Agriculture also has a role in the circular economy, a concept at the heart of the government’s New Model for Economic Development—a comprehensive overhaul of five potential-laden industries: biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, green energy, Internet of Things, national defense and smart machinery.
Another priority for the COA is export promotion. Tsao said a unit under the state-backed Taiwan Fertilizer Co. was created in August to spearhead public and private sector marketing strategies. “The new entity is tasked with raising the profile of the country’s produce in the global marketplace and helping dampen the impact of trade liberalization on our farmers.”
Clean and green farming practices are becoming a hallmark of Taiwan agriculture.
The firm, which has already identified several Taiwan signature crops for promotion like bananas and guavas, is developing a sophisticated systems analysis to maintain stable supplies year-round. “When local supply fails to meet domestic demand as a result of typhoons and/or seasonal factors, the firm can step in and stabilize prices by arranging extra imports,” the minister said.
Right Direction
Woo Rhung-jieh (吳榮杰), a professor of agricultural economics at National Taiwan University in Taipei, believes the government is heading in the right direction by targeting agriculture for strategic promotion. “While farming accounts for only 1.3 percent of Taiwan’s gross domestic product, there is every reason to continue growing the sector because its importance extends beyond the market value of tangible output.”
But the unfavorable perception of agriculture in society is a hurdle to the sector’s further development, Woo said. The average income of those engaged in farming is only 70 percent of that for people in the nonagricultural sector. Strenuous work and low social status also make farming a less favorable career choice for the youth.
The more fundamental issue is increasing urban-rural inequality, Woo said. “Rural areas are experiencing population decline because of fewer job opportunities and insufficient public resources like education and transportation infrastructure. This situation in turn makes residing in these regions even less attractive, creating a vicious cycle that must be halted if Taiwan’s agricultural sector is to have any kind of future.”
High Hopes
Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤), executive secretary of the Chiayi Farmers’ Association, has high hopes for the government’s initiatives. “The challenges facing Taiwan’s agriculture have never been more daunting. It’s time to address these problems head-on and strengthen the sector’s fundamentals.”
Upbeat on the prospects of the expanded insurance scheme, he said the traditional approach of doling out post-disaster subsidies can help alleviate some of the financial stress on farmers, but such assistance also has the undesirable effect of discouraging them from enhancing precautionary measures to minimize the damage from natural disasters.
But given their perilous finances, Tsai Ping-kun said most farmers will require state subsidies to join the plan. “The government needs to tread carefully and make sure this initiative doesn’t become a black hole for funding.”
In the long term, the government must assist local farmers achieve greater economy of scale and boost productivity through intensive capital and technology investment, he said. “There’s every reason to believe such efforts will take Taiwan’s agricultural sector to new heights.”
Write to Meg Chang at sfchang@mofa.gov.tw
PHOTOS BY CHEN MEI-LING, CHIN HUNG-HAO, CHUANG KUNG-JU, HUANG CHUNG-HSIN, JIMMY LIN AND COURTESY OF TSAI ING-WEN’S FACEBOOK PAGE
ILLUSTRATION AND INFOGRAPHICS BY LIN HSIN-CHIEH AND CHO YI-JU