For the longest time, farmers and fishermen consistently recorded the highest poverty incidences among the basic sectors in the Philippines. Despite the increase in the budget of agriculture in recent years, the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that farmers and fishermen remained the poorest basic sectors (See, “PSA: Farmers, fishermen remain poorest in PHL,” in the BusinessMirror, July 2, 2017). Poverty incidences among farmers and fishers were at 31.6 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively, higher than the average poverty incidence of 16.2 percent recorded in 2018.
These basic sectors produce food for the country, yet their per capita income cannot sufficiently meet their basic food and non-food needs, based on the PSA’s definition of poverty incidence. Little wonder, then, that the offspring of farmers and fishers seem reluctant to go into agriculture. There is practically no incentive for them to take the place of their parents whose earnings would not even allow them to study or even procure basic necessities.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations noted that small-scale fisheries produce 40 percent of all the fish that we eat. Yet many small-scale fisheries and fish workers suffer from poverty and marginalization, work under substandard conditions, experience high fatality rates and suffer occupational safety and health risks. The pandemic and extreme weather events exacerbated the situation of small-scale fishers as jobs were lost and fishing stopped because of quarantine restrictions.
FAO, the Vatican and the Catholic maritime charity, Stella Maris jointly marked World Fisheries Day on November 21. They called for greater social protection for small-scale fishers and fish workers, as many people employed in the fisheries sector had limited access to finance and insurance, safety networks and social programs to help them survive and prosper. The UN General Assembly has declared 2022 the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA) to train the spotlight on small-scale fishers and their needs.
It would do well for our policymakers to heed the call of FAO and the Vatican and immediately put in place interventions that will allow fishers to increase their income and get out of poverty, as recent developments have shown that it is becoming more difficult to make their livelihood sustainable. For one, geopolitical developments, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, caused oil and animal feed prices to shoot up. Expensive fuel tends to discourage fishers from going out to sea while more costly animal feeds would cause fish prices to rise.
Fishers also have to deal with the huge losses they incur due to the onslaught of strong typhoons (See, “Ompong farm losses in Northern Luzon now P17 billion,” in the BusinessMirror, September 20, 2018). Extreme weather events are hurting not only marine fisheries but also aquaculture. Storms destroy fish pens as well as fishing gear while prolonged dry spells and droughts can limit fish production.
Given the increasing threat of these developments to the livelihood of local fishers, there’s an urgent need for policymakers to look beyond the grant of fuel and food subsidies. The subsidies are short-term measures required by the pandemic and geopolitical developments to protect fishers from their adverse impact. It is time for policymakers to take the long view to end the country’s reliance on food imports.