Viewpoint
'Knee-jerk substitutes'
By Juan Mercado
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:54:00 04/29/2008
Few of those squeezed into rice queues know—or care—that in 400 AD Filipinos already planted this grain. Archaeologists stumbled across “palay” [rice before milling] (Oryza sativa) in Ifugao, Cagayan, Mauban, Majayjay, Lukban and Tayabas. Rice still packs the potential for upheaval centuries later. Bangladeshis protested against soaring rice prices. Hungry demonstrators toppled Haiti's prime minister. And 24 were killed in Cameroon riots. To tamp down shortages, 48 of 58 countries imposed price controls, consumer subsidies to export curbs, the World Bank reports.
For most Asians, there's no substitute for rice. Eight out of every 10 Filipinos deemed a meal "proper" only if it had rice, a recent Ogilvy and Mather study found.
"Seared deep in the psyche of Filipino politicians are global food crises ... when we could not find rice even if we had the money to buy it," National Scientist Gelia Castillo writes in her latest book "Rice in Our Life."
Since January, rice prices spurted by 141 percent. Thailand only partly filled Philippine export orders—at triple the 2007 prices. Vietnam capped exports. The United States partially closed the gap with hurried shipments. But "dependence on others brings a perpetual fast," cautions an Asian proverb.
"From food are born all creatures that live on Earth," we read in "Upanishads." "Afterwards they live on food. And when they die, they return to food."
The global spurt in food prices is crimping even middle-class families, notes the World Food Program's Josette Sheeran. They've pulled belts a notch tighter. "But the poorest are selling their animals, tools, the tin roof over their heads—making recovery when it comes, much harder."
There's no mystery why food is short. Farmlands shrank as urban areas expanded. "Asphalt is the last crop" in many places. Grain reserves dwindled. Shifting rainfall patterns due to climate change affect harvests, seen in Australia's drought, the Asian Development Bank notes.
Newly affluent people in China and India tuck in more grain and meat, putting stress on already eroded lands and depleted fishing grounds. Biofuel programs turn cereals into ethanol. And there are more mouths at dinner tables.
The overdue Philippine census claims there are now 88.5 million Filipinos, up from 76.5 million in 2000. This is an undercount, some scientists think. Some international groups, in fact, estimate that there will be 92.6 million Filipinos come July. Yet, few "leaders" think of food security. Most are scrambling to gerrymander political borders
This crisis did not erupt full-blown over night. Food prices started to surge in 2001. The Food and Agriculture Organization's early warning system tracked the steady draw down of grain reserves. And agencies like Oxfam, among others, hit the alarm klaxon.
Battling for political survival, the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime ignored what FAO Director General Jacques Diouf called a "predictable catastrophe." Fixated with wresting power, the opposition proved equally myopic. "He who sleeps with a blind man wakes up cross-eyed," a Turkish proverb says.
Inattention does not exorcise a crisis. It spawns instead panicky, knee-jerk reactions. "We neglected agriculture," Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told the Inquirer. "It was only recently that we started to fund irrigation, extension, seeds, post-harvest programs, etc."
“Hindi ka nag-iisa” [You are not alone], Secretary. "We are paying for 15 years of neglect," Bob Zeigler of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) commented.
Congress belatedly pledges to vet 17 proposed food legislations. The opposition feebly murmurs "amen," as the administration "throws money" at the crisis with a P43.7-billion program. The National Food Authority (NFA) import bills would chew up all VAT earnings from fuel, the ADB notes. Thus, Sen. Edgardo Angara lucidly argued this hemorrhage be stanched by a curb on NFA rice trading.
The Palace hints that President Arroyo may dip into the P120-billion coconut levy funds for this bailout. Skimming this trust fund is serial theft. It would dwarf the Joc-Joc Bolante fertilizer scam.
Rice does not ripen upon signing of a check. Farmers must plow, sow, weed and reap. "Dreaming up a new seed and growing it commercially takes 10 to 15 years," the IRRI notes. Politicians don't produce food. Only farmers and fisherfolk do.
A permanent solution to hunger rests, ultimately, with impoverished farmers and fisherfolk. Skewed social structures must be overhauled so that they can acquire land, seed, credit—and a fair share of the harvest or catch. "It is unfair that those who produce our food often go hungry first," former Malaysian Agriculture Minister Datuk Hussien Ong wrote.
"The era of cheap food is over," The Economist asserts. The transition from overflowing granaries to short rations has been "prolonged and more painful than anyone expected."
Will our grandchildren be able to shop for tomorrow's costlier food? Yes, if future policies are crafted now. But are the politically distracted regime and opposition up to this task? Given the way they bumbled into today's food quagmire, one wonders. Or will the President dump this task on whoever succeeds her in 2010, if ever?
Dogged inaction, however, guarantees disaster. "To a people idle and famished," Mahatma Ghandi said, "the only form in which God dares to appear is food and the promise of work."
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Email: juanlmercado@gmail.com
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