‘Manila must reduce waste to boost local food supply’

THE American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (Amcham) said the government should consider reducing food waste amid the spike in commodity prices.

Chris Ilagan, co-chair of Amcham’s Agribusiness committee, said cutting food waste would help ease high food prices and boost domestic supply.

“We do know for example that food waste, estimated to be one third of all food production, it’s certainly an area I think we need to look into especially at this time of supply shortages, of supply gluts,” Ilagan said in a televised interview last Tuesday.

“They say about 40 percent of that 33 percent is actually lost in the postharvest and processing stages. These are low hanging fruits so to speak. The food’s already produced and it’s just a matter of finding a way to maximize its use.”

Last Monday, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President George T. Barcelon expressed concern over high food prices and has urged the government to address it immediately given its impact on inflation.

“Issue of concern is for the government to find solutions on high food prices which have heightened the clamor for big wage adjustments that could lead to even higher inflation,” Barcelon said in a Viber message sent to reporters on Monday.

He said this is a “vicious cycle” that could stunt business and “negatively impact” the competitiveness of the export sector. As such, Barcelon said, “the outlook on both job creation and sustainability for the year may encounter headwinds.”

Barcelon made the statement after the prices of onions skyrocketed to as much asp 700 per kilogram last month.

In a statement issued by Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Ramon Clarete was quoted as saying that the “tradability” of the Philippines’s agricuture and food sector has weakened.

Clarete said during an e-forum on food security that low productivity and high population growth have pressured the country to turn to food imports, including rice, making it vulnerable to international trade disruptions.

To mitigate disruptions in the “new normal,” he said there is a need to improve trade, particularly of perishable goods, as the storage and delivery of these products that require cold chains and air shipments were severely impacted during the pandemic.

Consolidation

ILAGAN said Amcham has been pushing for other measures, such as land consolidation, to boost the country’s food security. He noted that the Department of Agriculture is now working on land consolidation and is trying to do this through cooperatives.

To support the effort, Ilagan said the size of land ownership must be expanded.