Even before the ongoing global food crisis unleashed by the US-Iran war, the BBM Administration had already given the highest priority to food security. In fact, for the first 14 months of his Presidency, President BBM occupied the position of Secretary of Agriculture himself. After that, he was fortunate to find in Francis Tiu Laurel a very able, effective and street-smart Secretary of Agriculture who has done much to provide the small farmers with the resources they need to be more productive through more farm to market roads, access to water, subsidized fertilizer inputs and more rational tariff and pricing policies. The year 2025 was a year when the whole agricultural sector increased at a record 2.8 % after languishing at 0 to 1 % annual growth for more than a decade.

            Manifesting the effective leadership that now prevails at the Department of Agriculture, Secretary Tiu Laurel was quick to address the rising costs of fertilizer and other inputs vital to the small farmers and fisherfolk. The DA was quick to alleviate the impact of rising farm input by distributing subsidies and financial assistance to eligible farmers and fisherfolks nationwide, coming from both its 2025 budget and the P10 billion Presidential Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolks Program. The DA announced that the bulk of the distribution of assistance will be after the Holy Week, just in time for the planting season for rice which is from May to July—the wet season. Relying heavily on the southwest monsoon (Habagat) rains, this is the largest and most important crop, producing the bulk of annual rice output.

            The Government will have to intensify its programs to help the millions of farmers, especially in rice, corn, vegetables, fruits and livestock as well as the small fisherfolks to enable them to convert the food crisis into an opportunity to provide the close to 120 million Filipinos the food supplies they will need to survive the expected shortages. All over the world, the prices of food are skyrocketing because of burgeoning energy prices. As we read in the Financial Times (March 27, 2025), “From the moment it is planted to the moment it reaches a plate, every grain of rice and every cob of corn requires energy. Diesel powers tractors and harvesters, trucks and ships; electricity runs cold chains, milling, and processing plants. Higher fuel and transport costs are pushing up prices in local markets. Although the food has not disappeared, it is becoming more costly to move it, to process it and ultimately to process it. This is another reminder that the agribusiness sector goes much beyond farming. It covers the whole value chain of farming, post-harvest, cold storage, logistics, supply chain, processing and retailing. In the Philippines, for example, farming is less than 10 % of GDP. The whole value chain called agribusiness encompasses all of 30 % of GDP.

            In tandem with the small and medium-scale farmers, there is a role for people like me who have gardening as a hobby to contribute whatever we can to the supply of the higher-value crops that are in greater demand as more households join the upper-middle income household. For example, with the help of Harbest Agribusiness Corporation, a Philippine seed company who partnered with one of the largest seed enterprises in Taiwan, Known-You Seed, my gardening hobby led me to plant papaya trees in the concrete jungle of Makati. I am now providing one of the sweetest papayas available in the market called “Solo Papaya” to my household Each papaya fruit is small enough for the consumption of one person and is extremely sweet. Harbest was established in 1997, then as a distributor of high-quality hybrid seeds, with the main headquarter in Pasig City (5 Rose Marie Lane, Pasig, (02) 8671 7411). The corporation, a most effective channel for transfer of technology from Taiwan, is a distributor of planting containers, seeds and plant nutrition products, crop protection machinery, greenhouse and irrigation facilities, bonsai pots and materials and tissue culture materials. It organizes learning seminars all over the country for small and medium-scale farmers as well as garden hobbyists on the scientific growing of high-value crops like vegetables, fruits and flowers. Its models of urban gardening, including hydroponics, can help bring down food inflation during these times of high fuel prices and, therefore, skyrocketing transport costs.

            There are urban or rapidly urbanizing areas other than Metro Manila, like Cebu, Baguio and Cagayan de Oro that are still surrounded with ample farm lands owned by small landowners. These land areas, most of them kept idle for land price speculation, should be mobilized for growing high-value crops in times of food crisis as we will be experiencing at least for the next two to three years. Local Government authorities should make plans to encourage these small land owners to do urban gardening or to rent out their vacant lots to those who have the interest and the capital to plant high-value crops for self-consumption or resale. Government financial institutions like the Land Bank, in partnership with leading private banks well known for financing agro enterprises, like the Bank of the Philippine Islands, may considering lending to these small-scale agri-preneurs. To be continued.