Even before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, food prices have been rising steadily. The continuous growth of the world’s population and shrinking natural resources are major factors behind the spikes in commodity prices. Putting more pressure on prices is the emergence of animal diseases and climate change, which could drastically reduce food stocks.
These issues should be top of mind for participants to the third food summit, which will be held in April (See, “Govt, private sector to tackle agri issues in April,” in the BusinessMirror, February 15, 2021). The National Food Security Summit (NFSS) tentatively set on April 7 to 8 was organized following the recent spikes in the prices of certain food items, including pork, which caused the inflation rate in January to breach the 2-4 percent target of the national government. The government, the private sector, and experts from the academe hope to address the current supply food problem as well as improve agricultural productivity and farmers’ income.
The government is banking on the NFSS to generate “novel ideas” that will boost food supply given the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as animal diseases, such as African swine fever (ASF) and avian influenza. The Philippines, according to officials, need a new game plan to expand the access of all Filipinos to affordable food and achieve food security, as nearly half of the country’s population is experiencing hunger. For a country that has a large number of young people, ensuring their access to food is crucial to reaping the so-called demographic dividend, or the economic growth experienced by a country as a result of the change in its population structure.
As stakeholders search for new strategies, government must continue implementing reforms to address age-old problems that have plagued the agriculture sector. For one, the proposed National Land Use Act, which could prevent the conversion of lands for housing needs, has been languishing in Congress for three decades. This despite the fact that it is one of the priority bills of the Duterte administration.
The lack of crucial farm infrastructure is also a major stumbling block to improving farmers’ productivity (See, “PHL agri infra backlog pegged at P535 billion,” in the BusinessMirror, January 21, 2020). Warehouses and cold-storage facilities will enable farmers to minimize postharvest losses while farm-to-market roads and bridges will allow producers to deliver goods faster. The country’s farm infrastructure backlog was estimated at more than half a trillion pesos and this needs serious attention if the government is to achieve its goal of expanding people’s access to affordable food.
An official of the Department of Agriculture had estimated the so-called farm infrastructure backlog at P535 billion. About P330 billion is needed to build more warehouses, P100 billion for the construction of more rural roads and another P100 billion for cold-storage facilities, which will benefit fishermen. While the pandemic has made it imperative for government to channel resources to initiatives that will stop the spread of Covid-19, it must also find a way to allocate funds for these roads and facilities that are crucial to achieving food security.
Given all these challenges, we hope that the National Food Security Summit in April will craft a national food security plan that would boost food production and benefit the country’s farmers and fisherfolk—the pillars of the country’s food security. It’s about time we do something to help our food producers earn more and get them out of poverty. This is the best way to fight hunger in our country.