PHL now feeling impact of food crisis–DA chief
THE food crisis is now felt in the Philippines as prices of goods continue to soar, driven by global economic chal-lenges caused by the Covid-19 pan-demic and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said Thursday.
Dar gave his assessment in his speech addressed to management officials of the Department of Agriculture(DA), which was deliv-ered by Agriculture Undersecre-tary and Chief-of-Staff Leocadio Sebastian on his behalf.“
In the last ManCom [Manage-ment Committee], the Secretary spoke of a looming food crisis. Well, it’s here now,” said Sebas-tian, reading from Dar’s speech at the start of the two-day National Management Committee meeting of the DA.
Dar noted that the fertilizer prices have tripled since the start of the Ukraine-Russia war while food inflation in the West is reach-ing as high as 8 percent.
“Here in the Philippines, we have an enviable inflation of 5.4 percent, considering. Still way off-target for our Central Bank. That is driven by food and energy prices,” he said.
Dar added that the predicted geopolitical shifts are happening already with food export restrictions being imposed by various countries to secure their supplies.“
The geopolitical shifts are moving as predicted as well: India is rising as a food security super-power and the next viable source of wheat and rice for importing countries,” he said.
“Elsewhere, export bans are be-ing instituted by about 20 coun-tries, to protect their domestic supplies. Wheat, palm oil, sun-flower oil, and fertilizer compo-nents are scarce,” he added.
In May, Dar warned of a loom-ing food crisis that the country could feel in the second half, due to various global economic chal-lenges that drove up prices of domestic food, both locally-produced and imported.
“The Philippines’s precarious position as a net food-importing country demands innovation not just in our existing activities, but also in related legislation,” he said.
The BusinessMirror broke the story earlier that Filipinos will grapple with more expensive rice in the coming months as the price of the staple could increase by as much as P6 per kilogram due to higher production costs both locally and internationally. (Related story: https://business-mirror.com.ph/2022/06/06/higher-rice-production-costsseen-to-spur-%e2%82%a76-kilo-price-hike/)
First 100 days priority
DAR listed various priorities that the new DA leadership must focus on during the first 100 days of the administration of President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The list includes executive and legislative actions to avert “political instability” in the country due to rising food prices.
Dar’s proposed executive orders include a 30-day rice buffer stock for National Food Authority (NFA), another 30-day rice buffer stock for local government units and the sale of NFA rice to 4Ps beneficiaries. The next DA administration must also direct the state universities and colleges (SUCS) to distribute vegetable seeds and planting materials and embark on an information dissemination on organic fertilizer and soil testing.
On the legislative front, the DA is pushing for the revision of the Land Bank of the Philippines charter, making credit to farmers the primary mandate of the state-run bank; as well as amendment of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. charter. The DA is also proposing the review and revision of CARP and the creation of the Bureau of Agri-fishery Industrialization Cooperatives.
Dar said Marcos Jr. must certify as urgent the bill creating the Department of Fishery and Oceans as well as the Livestock Development Competitiveness Act, which will create an earmarked fund to develop the local livestock sector.
“These proposed measures stay in the concrete and avoid the wishful thinking of rhetoric. They are also heavily based on evidence,” he said.
“Thus, it is in the spirit of a transition that we currently set our compasses for the crucial period after the proclamation by which our leaders are judged,” he added.