The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the National Food Security Summit (NFSS) that will bring together the government and the private sector to discuss various issues affecting the agriculture sector will take place in April.
Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar disclosed during an event in Batangas last week that NFSS is tentatively set on April 7 to 8. This year’s NFSS is the third under the Duterte administration.
“This is the time to bring ideas to the table. This is the time to cooperate. This is the time to understand the mix of interventions that we have put together. Kung mayroon pa kayong maidadagdag na ideas, we are open to discussing all of these during the 2021 National Food Security Summit,” Dar said in a statement.
[This is the time to bring ideas to the table. This is the time to cooperate. This is the time to understand the mix of interventions that we have put together. If you have additional ideas, we are open to discussing all of these during the 2021 National Food Security Summit.]
Prior to revealing the tentative date for the NFSS, Dar led the launching of the government’s nationwide hog repopulation and “Bantay sa ASF sa Barangay” (BABay ASF), the DA’s twin programs to combat rising pork prices and African swine fever (ASF).
The two programs have a combined public and private investment of almost P30 billion “aimed at effectively controlling the dreaded ASF and reviving the badly-hit swine industry,” according to the DA.
The DA under its former chief and now Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Chairman Emmanuel F. Piñol, spearheaded an NFSS in 2018. The DA had urged local government units (LGUs) to craft their respective food security plans.
Another food security summit was held on October 29 to 30, 2019. More than 500 participants from the LGUs, the academe, and private sector organizations joined the DA and its attached bureaus and agencies.
Malacañang defended the government’s plan to hold a food security summit anew, saying that new strategies to boost food supply are needed as the Covid-19 pandemic upended the lives of Filipinos.
“Gaya ng aking sinabi po ‘no na iyong food security po ay mukhang doon lang sa ilang lugar, sa lugar na pinanggalingan ni Secretary Piñol,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in press briefing last week.
“At saka siyempre after Covid-19, kinakailangan panibagong strategy na tayo dahil talagang Covid-19 changed completely iyong ating pang-araw-araw na pamumuhay.”
He said the goal of this year’s food security summit is to come up with solutions for current agricultural issues, such as skyrocketing prices due to supply disruptions caused by ASF, and to ensure the availability of affordable food products.
“Kinakailangan lahat na ng pagkain pag-usapan natin at importante po kasi iyong food security dahil alam natin na halos kalahati ng ating mga kababayan ngayon ay nakaka-experience ng pagkagutom,” he said.
“So obligasyon pa rin po ng estado na bigyan ng katuparan ang karapatan ng lahat ng mamamayang Pilipino na magkaroon nang sapat na kakainin.”
[We have to discuss all food-related issues because food security is important as nearly half of the population is experiencing hunger. It is the obligation of the state to ensure that Filipinos have sufficient food on their table.]
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