Available and affordable food for all

Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
“Available and affordable food” — that’s the mantra of the administration of Rodrigo R. Duterte when it comes to food production.  It means that food should be accessible to all Filipinos — more than 100 million of them! — and that everyone could afford to buy it.
“‘Available and affordable’ is a promise of a nation with a clearly marked path towards development and progress through a well-planned and prudent utilization of its resources, both human and natural, and a governance focused on providing for the needs of its people,” explained Emmanuel F. Piñol, the incoming secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In an exclusive interview with Piñol, the former North Cotabato governor told this columnist: “I believe that feeding your people is a leader’s greatest obligation.  Jesus Christ did it with the loaf of bread and the fish to feed thousands.”
In his Facebook account, Piñol has already laid down a plan on what he will do during the first 100 days as head of DA.  “This roadmap was crafted after the rigorous nationwide journey called the Biyaheng Bukid which, except for a few remaining island provinces, brought me to almost all parts of the country,” he wrote.
Among the things he learned during the nationwide were as follows:
 
• Pervasive poverty in the agriculture and fisheries sector: “In (the island of) Mindoro, I met fishermen who were renting ‘bancas’ (outriggers) just to be able to catch fish.  In Tarlac, right in the front yard of the incumbent president, farmers are still using carabaos and crude farming methods.”
 
• So much potential in both agriculture and fisheries sector: “But the DA has lost focus spending huge government resources on programs which are not essential to food production.”
 
• Idle lands and unused water: “There are so much idle lands and so much water flowing through the rivers. In fact, we have 247 large rivers which could be used for water supply.”
 
• “The agricultural statistics gathering vital to effective planning is flawed.”
 
• Poor in research and development: “The country’s agriculture and fisheries sector is very poor in research and development. So much money is wasted on trainings with virtually no results.”
 
• Poor technology transfer and information dissemination:  “(This is particularly true regarding) farmers’ access to vital data…”
 
Piñol believes the country could achieve rice sufficiency in two to three years “but we have to implement massive interventions,” he wrote and cited the following: repair and rehabilitation of existing irrigation facilities; use of water pumps in areas with shallow water level; support of high-yielding seeds, fertilizers and farm inputs for the next two cropping seasons; identification of key rice production areas where water is readily available.
The livestock industry is also in good condition that “the country could be self-sufficient with beef, pork, and chicken.”  The reason: “There has been to a massive development in the farming sector which produces feed materials like corn, soya and even malunggay.
Regarding high value crops, he wrote: “There is great potential for high value crops, especially in coconut production areas where coffee, cacao or abaca could be planted as intercrops.”
Piñol added that with support from government, “the country’s high value crops sector could bring in much-needed foreign exchange and create jobs in the countryside.”
After talking with some officials of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), he was told that “we could plant 600,000 hectares to coconut over the next six years based on their available seedlings.”
Piñol also observed that there is “a disconnect between agencies directly or indirectly involved in food security.  He cited the agriculture department and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources “in relation to identification of watershed areas for protection to ensure sustainable agriculture and mining permits in areas where agriculture could be affected.”

Piñol said that during the first 100 days of the Duterte presidency, his department will undertake the following measures:
– Nation-wide orientation and mind setting for all officials and employees of the DA to ensure that they are guided on the priorities of the Duterte Presidency in agriculture and fisheries and the road map for the mission to provide available and affordable food for the Filipinos is clearly explained;
– Cash for work program for farmers and fishermen affected by the El Niño. Work includes manual repair and rehabilitation of irrigation facilities for farmers and cleaning of coastal waters of garbage and planting of mangrove trees for fisherfolk;
– Start of the national mapping to determine which crop or agricultural activity would be best in a specific area based on geographic, climatic and soil type conditions. President Duterte calls this the Color-coded Agriculture Guide Map;
– Start of the National Food Consumption Quantification Survey which would determine what kind of food and the volume of food commodities consumed by the Filipinos. This would also project the food consumption of the country in relation to population growth;
– Nationwide inspection of irrigation services, dredging of silted dams and provision of shallow tube wells to ensure sufficient supply of water for the next rice planting season;
– Support in the form seeds, fertilizers, farm inputs two planting seasons in the form of calamity assistance;
– For the fisherfolk, distribution of fishing boats and nets;
– Nationwide face-face interaction between the DA secretary and the stakeholders in the agriculture and fishery sectors to address their concerns;
– Project Management Teams will also be organized in coordination with the local government units of the country’s 10 poorest provinces to ensure that the DA’s food production program would also result in poverty alleviation;
– A special project titled “Pagkain Para sa Masa” will be launched in Metro Manila establishing “arroz caldo” feeding stations to ensure that the street dwellers and the homeless will not go to sleep on an empty stomach. This project will be implemented jointly with the two other department (health and social welfare and development) and the local government units in Metro Manila.
– Another special project, the “Bantay Dagat,” will engage the Badjaos in cleaning the waters of coastal communities to make them productive;
– In cooperation and coordination with the three department (health, social work and development and education), the DA will also spearhead the launching of a community-based milk feeding program in areas where farmers are involved in dairy production.
– In preparation for the La Niña which is expected to hit the country by November or December 2016, the DA secretary will direct the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. to include in the crop insurance program farmers in the high risk areas.
– The National Food Authority will also be directed to pre-position sufficient rice and food supplies in areas expected to be affected by La Niña.
– Inter-agency connectivity between the DA and the Bureau of Customs will also be established during the first 100 days of President Duterte to ensure that the smuggling of rice, meat products and other agricultural products like onion, garlic and even ginger will stop.