The Department of Agriculture (DA) is supporting the country’s economic recovery measures amid the pandemic through its food production agenda, which is aimed at addressing hunger.
“The unprecedented crisis forced us to tackle the goal of food security through a cross-sectoral approach of the Inter-Agency Task Force [IATF] on Zero Hunger,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement on Wednesday.
As such, Dar stressed the importance of implementing initiatives that can ensure affordable foodstuff for the public, especially during this crisis.
“On the back of this outlook rides the survival of Filipinos. Hunger, essentially, is an economic question. And it was poverty that sent many Filipinos into the arms of involuntary hunger.”
The agri chief said the government has put in place measures that will address the bottlenecks in supply chains, including the distribution of livestock and high-yielding rice and corn seeds to farmers.
For the fisheries sector, the DA said it has extended support through the construction of infrastructure like roads, bridges, post-harvest facilities and potable water systems.
“We distributed more equipment, fingerlings, planting materials, post-harvest equipment and new technology—and extended support for livelihood to more than a thousand farmers and fishers under the Special Areas for Agriculture Development Program,” Dar said.
The DA is also working with the Department of Trade and Industry in monitoring the prices of basic commodities.
“All these programs have helped ensure that no Filipino family had to worry about food shortages throughout the pandemic. These have also created employment for many Filipinos,” Dar said.
Last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country posted its slowest agriculture production growth in over two decades in 2021 after it contracted by 1.7 percent.
Ateneo Eagle Watch Senior Fellow Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr., in an interview with the BusinessMirror, said that it was “expected in light of the supply side constraints along with the continuing swine flu and the ever present natural calamities.”
Livestock pulled down the agriculture sector last year after declining by 17 percent. Poultry slid by 0.3 percent while crops and fisheries grew by 2.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.