It seems to be a foregone conclusion that the BBM Administration will not be able to achieve its target of bringing down the Philippine poverty incidence to single-digit by the time it exits in July 2028. Most probably this poverty rate will be back to close to 16 % of the population where it was in 2022 as a result of the economic crisis resulting from the flood control corruption scandal and the ongoing U.S.-Iran War. The Philippines will continue to stick out like a sore thumb in the ASEAN in which all of its peers (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore) have already brought down their poverty incidences either to zero or to single-digit levels.

              The worst consequence of a high poverty incidence is the high rate of hunger and malnutrition of the poor, especially children who become stunted if they are undernourished in their early years. This stunting has very dire consequences for the quality of human resources in the future. The highest priority should therefore be given to a long-term policy for food security. Here, I would like to summarize some recommendations made in a very valuable publication of the National College of Public Administration of the University of the Philippines entitled Post-Pandemic Policy for Food Security edited by Gilberto M. Llanto and Enrico L. Basilio. These two authors recommended a dual track approach, the first track of which consists in a package of measures that address the immediate needs of those who are unable to meet food and nutrition requirements. The second track is about medium and long-term interventions to ensure food security for the country and poor households, especially. I have already commented on the first track in a series of articles that appeared in one of the Philippine dailies.

              In this present series of articles, I would like to summarize the authors’ second-track of ensuring food security in the long run. These have to do with medium and long-term development policies and approaches (e.g. trade policy, investment in rural infrastructure and innovative technologies, research and development , among others) that will increase the country’s capacity and resilience to produce, process, and make food available and accessible to the population. Instead of a generic program to accelerate the growth of GDP, it is more human to first focus on the availability of food, especially for the poorest of the poor. This food security strategy is tied to how agriculture and fisheries can be made more productive: how agribusinesses and food processors can enhance their value added to primary products or raw materials for better foods and nutrition; and how the supply chain and logistics systems can more efficiently facilitate the availability and accessibility of raw materials and inputs for agribusinesses and food manufacturers, as well as in consumer food items in a safe and timely manner.

              I have often advised the young generation that agribusiness as a whole is a promising profession/industry that they should consider joining. It is important to point out to them that the whole agribusiness value chain goes much beyond farming. Although farming as an occupation can incorporate all sorts of modern technology, including drones and AI, at the moment it contributes less than 10 per cent of GDP. If we cover the whole value chain called “agribusiness” (which encompasses post-harvest, cold storage, logistics and supply chain, processing and retailing of food products), the total contribution to GDP can go as high as 30 percent. It is imperative, though, that we increase agricultural productivity and build resilience in this primary sector of the economy.  This will require the increased use of improved varieties and postharvest technologies; better crop management; investments in rural infrastructure and connectivity; responsive food trade policies; innovative agriculture financing; and environmental management. To do all these, the authors recommend a systems approach.

              Food security as a complex objective requires a systems approach, which takes into account different aspects of the issue to ensure coherent and consistent policies. There are many inter-related and inter-dependent factors that impact on the food security of a given country. A coherent food policy must take into account these interactions, interdependences, and feedback mechanism among the various activities, actors and institutions that comprise the system. A food system approach necessarily considers all the activities from production to consumption and their respective outcomes. Food security is not simply meeting the growing demand of a given population for food. It must also ensure accessibility and affordability of nutritious foods and diets. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) explains that there are four vital aspects of food security: access, availability, utilization and stability. Addressing one aspect, while ignoring the others, will not deliver food security. A holistic approach of food security would necessarily encompass changing demographics and growing global population; climate change and degradation of the physical environment; the persistence of poverty and inequality in the distribution of income and wealth; implementation gaps due to lack of good governance; and conditions of conflict, wars and political instability. Agricultural productivity must be increased while ensuring that a country has a sustainable natural resource base.

              The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of our food systems to supply-side and demand-side shocks. Widespread community lockdowns and quarantines implemented by the government impaired access to food because of the loss of jobs and incomes on the side of the consumers and the constricted supply chain on the side of the producers and vendors. One can never underestimate the adverse impacts of unpredictable shocks of “black swans” that render societies, especially local communities, off-kilter. A most recent example was the giant earthquake that hit General Santos City and surrounding areas in Southern Mindanao leading to the loss of lives and widespread disruption of economic activities. There is no alternative to using a systems framework in order to view the problem of food security from different vantage points. It is simplistic to focus only on outcomes and thus only what can be measured rather than the processes by which beneficial change may best occur.

              Most important to consider is the role of institutions in attaining food security: both the political and economic institutions.  Political institutions refer to public agencies and private organizations tasked to implement or execute specific tasks while economic institutions are policies and regulations that enhance and allow markets to work efficiently.  Where the market is allowed to play a major role in production and distribution and where market failures are monitored and corrected, food insecurity is more likely to be effectively addressed. For example, freeing up the agriculture and fisheries sectors from unnecessary and burdensome regulations can boost production and food security. It is now well recognized that expenditure programs (e.g. price policies) on public goods are a superior form of government intervention compared to traditional schemes to support producers. To be continued.