The truth behind the looming food crisis

THE BANNER story titled “Noy warned of rice crisis” (Inquirer, 4/12/11) sent a strong message to the government: this concern is a serious matter that needs timely and appropriate action given that the Philippines experienced rice crises in 1995 and 2008. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala’s displeasure over the alleged  National Intelligence Coordinating Agency report should not steer us away from the reality that the country has gone into a chronic and systemic rice crisis characterized by production shortages, heavy dependence on rice imports, and a market monopolized by a few rice traders.

The series of protest actions demanding accessible, safe and cheap rice shows clearly  that “the issue of the stomach” is a national security issue. Hunger can push the people’s patience to the limit, bring them to the streets to demand that government fulfill its primary responsibility to feed its people.

Taking a closer look at the facts and figures of the world food supply, the food crisis of today is being pushed by other commodities such as wheat, maize, soybeans, sugar and even fruits and vegetables, compared to the 2008 crisis which was about rice only.

The recurring food crisis is caused by climate change, which is causing huge agricultural production losses in major food-producing nations. Countries that are into wheat production like Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia suffered to a great extent from droughts and floods and have turned to rice as an alternative staple commodity (“Rice Facts, A Sleepy Rice Market: The Calm Before the Storm” by Samarendu Mohanty). Market speculation aggravates the situation, causing sharp increases in the prices of these basic food commodities.

The country’s continued reliance on huge rice imports makes it vulnerable to global rice price and supply speculation. The recent spate of oil price hikes has been too much of a burden to the ordinary Filipino; another spike in rice prices would trigger another rice crisis in the country resulting in more sufferings of immense magnitude.

The Aquino government must institute a policy regime that would reverse the current liberalization of Philippine agriculture. It is the constitutional duty of the government to ensure food security and self-sufficiency for the Filipino people. And it can only do this if genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization are sincerely and successfully pursued. Only through this two-pronged solution can this nation be assured of rice self-sufficiency and food security.

—FENY COSICO,

projects and extension officer,

Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham

at Teknolohiya para sa Sambayanan (Agham),

[email protected]