Navigating Constraint: A Review on the Role of Participatory Governance in Addressing Agricultural Challenges and Enhancing Resilience in the Philippines

Purpose: This report seeks to provide a comprehensive examination of participatory governance’s specific role, observed impacts, and the persistent barriers to its effective implementation within the unique Philippine agricultural context. Methodology: This systematic literature review used a content analysis with a thematic synthesis. It examined a wide range of papers from government records, industry analyses, peer-reviewed articles, and research reviews that were pertinent to the particulars of participatory governance in the Philippine agricultural context. Findings: Participatory governance serves as a critical but underutilized pathway to resilience in Philippine agriculture. Case studies of farmer field schools, irrigation management, seed governance, and organic certification demonstrate how inclusive, farmer-led approaches foster adaptive capacity, sustainability, and equity. However, persistent barriers including institutional rigidity, entrenched power imbalances, weak policy implementation, socio-political disempowerment, and organizational weaknesses at the grassroots level continue to limit its transformative potential despite supportive laws and frameworks. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice, and Policy: This report contributes to theory by framing participatory governance as a pathway not only to recovery but also to adaptive and transformative resilience, enriched by indigenous Filipino concepts of collective governance. In practice, it highlights concrete mechanisms and challenges that inform farmer organizations, NGOs, and development actors seeking to operationalize participatory approaches. For policy, it underscores the need to move beyond declarative frameworks toward genuine implementation that strengthens institutional capacity, addresses structural inequities, and embeds accountability, positioning participatory governance as both a political and technical imperative for agricultural transformation.