The Philippines is primarily an agricultural country with a large portion of Filipinos living in rural areas and supporting themselves through agricultural activities. Recent figures suggest that about a quarter of employed Filipinos work in the agricultural sector which is made up of four sub-sectors: farming, fisheries, livestock, and forestry. In 2021, the sector generated a gross value added (GVA) of about 1.76 trillion Philippine pesos, equivalent to a 9.6 percent share of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, as a result of the prolonged lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, along with the natural calamities that occurred in the country, the sector’s gross output contracted by 1.7 percent in that year.
