Food to Consume: PH’s Fight Against Food Insecurity
The first day of April is not just reserved for pranks and jokes; it also marks the start of Filipino Food Month (FFM).
As stated in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, each individual has their own needs that must be fulfilled. These needs are divided into five categories: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. To reach the other four levels, one must first acquire their physiological needs, such as food and water, in order to survive and move to the next level. This is true and necessary for humans, so having an accessible food source that is both affordable and healthy is a must for every Filipino.
Yet, due to high inflation rates and the low minimum wage a Filipino worker usually receives, healthy and accessible food has become harder and more expensive to attain.
As a result, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Proclamation №469, s. 2018 on April 13, 2018, making the month of April the “Filipino Food Month’’ or the “Buwan ng Kalutong Pilipino.” Lead by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), it aims to preserve and recognize our culinary traditions in order to support our local agriculture and pass them on to future generations.
This year, DA joined hands with the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement (PCHM), the Department of Tourism (DOT), and NCCA to lead FFM with the theme “Pagkaing Sariling Atin, Mahalin at Pagyamanin,” which focuses on acknowledging our local communities, especially workers in the food production and culinary fields. This year’s FFM also intends to achieve food safety and accessibility, which have been major problems in the past few years (Vergara, 2023).
SDG 2’s Effectivity in the Philippines
In September 2015, with their General Assembly, the United Nations (UN) finally implemented 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals were made to ensure that by 2023, all people would enjoy peace and prosperity (United Nations Development Programme, n.d.). Among the 17 SDGs, the second goal’s mission is to end world hunger, improve nutrition, and sustain and support local agriculture (United Nations, n.d.).
Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger has eight targets and is currently being practiced in the country. The first two targets are concerned with reducing the number of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Targets 2.3., 2.4., 2.5., and 2.a. call for improving the agriculture sector and making sure that there will be enough food sources for everyone. Target 2.b. aims to prevent trading restrictions in the market. The last target, target 2.c., wants the government to adopt and provide measures to ensure food accessibility in case of natural disasters and high inflation.
The country has already been making progress with targets 2.1. and 2.2. since Executive Order (EO) 101 was signed in January 2020 by Pres. Duterte. However, target 2.3. is still far from the goal, as the basic wage and salary of agricultural workers in the Philippines in 2021 only reached PHP 285.19 per day according to Statista (2023). Target 2.4. faces a problem as farmlands are used to build buildings and infrastructure (Philippine Institute for Development Studies, 2021). Target 2.5. had made progress with Republic Act (RA) №9186, also known as the “Philippine Plant Variety Protection Act of 2002,” being signed on June 7, 2002.
On the other hand, target 2.a. is steadily progressing as the DA’s budget increases to PHP 102.15 billion this year (Philippine News Agency, 2022). In line with target 2.b., the International Trade Administration (2022) noted that the Philippines is the leading market in Southeast Asia. To continue the progress on target 2.c., an Emergency Food Reserve (EFR) Facility in Ibajay, Aklan, was opened in 2022 (Arayata, 2022). Additionally, the Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) started in 2022 and cushioned the effects of inflation.
The Lingering Concern Towards Food Accessibility and Security
One of the main targets, as mentioned in SDG 2, is to “end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular, the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round,” (United Nations, n.d.).
Considering the remaining years to achieve the target, the Philippines remains in the line of countries experiencing extreme hunger. Filipinos still lack food on their plates — confronting persistent gnawing cries in their stomach, which, unfortunately, would result in malnutrition and other health conditions. In fact, 11.8%, or 3 million Filipino families are suffering from involuntary hunger (Social Weather Stations, 2023).
Food accessibility and security have been lingering concerns of Filipinos until recent times. Proving this point, the 2021 preliminary survey result of The Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) revealed that around 19.99 million, or 18.1% of Filipinos, live below the poverty threshold (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2022). This means that their per capita income is not sufficient to sustain their daily needs, including food; thus, this causes massive distress to their well-being.
The Philippines consists of the seven poorest regions, and three of them such as the Bangsamoro Administrative Region in Muslim (BARMM), Region VIII (Eastern Visayas), and XII (SOCCSKSARGEN), remain food insecure (World Food Programme, 2022), despite the enactment of the RA 11291 or Magna Carta of the Poor that ascertain the accessibility of government services to respond on the basic necessities of the impoverished Filipinos are met (CNN Philippines, 2019). A considerable impact on the social and economic aspects could be seen in the limelight if the situation continues to be perceived in the country.
How accessible is the food during the Pandemic?
The socioeconomic issue intensified when COVID-19 unprecedentedly came into existence last 2019 and brought drastic changes around the globe. The sudden strict quarantine measures that affected the economic capability to earn an income had expedited Filipinos into poverty even worse. Unemployment and job disruption reducing the purchasing power of individuals to buy commodities are also included in the discerning consequences of the pandemic (Angeles-Agdeppa et al., 2022). Hence, the economic food chain and food security were at risk, and the masses could face a predicament.
Furthermore, agriculture, which is the major contributor to the food supply, was also hampered by the unforeseen shock of the pandemic. Teves (2022) stated that delivering supplies from farms had become more difficult considering the lack of farm-to-market roads, transport, and storage facilities and the mobility restrictions that happened during the pandemic.
Due to this, a shortage in agricultural products was seen in the picture, and prices escalated considering the rising inflation rate; thus, numerous ordinary Filipino families struggled to secure healthy foods beneficial for their daily survival.
High Inflation in the Picture
After COVID-19, the Philippines has yet again faced another problem: high inflation rates. In 2022, the inflation rate rose to 8.0% in November and 8.1% in the following month, making the inflation rate average reach 5.8% (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2023). The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) acknowledged that the 2022 inflation average is higher than 2021’s average of 3.9% and above the government’s inflation target of 2.0%–4.0%.
Transportation fares and retail prices were severely affected by the high inflation. Liang (2023) mentioned that onion prices were soaring back in December when they reached PHP 700 per kilo. This caused some people to reduce the number of onions they buy; some are even forced to lessen the usual amount because they cannot afford it.
The high inflation caused citizens to think of different strategies in order to feed themselves.
In accordance with a survey conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in October 2022, due to the increasing food prices, 74% of Filipinos rely on different livelihood-based coping strategies where they borrow money and even spend their savings to buy food. 60% of Filipinos also rely on food-based coping strategies, which include reducing their food consumption and buying less nutritional and low-quality foods that will help them spend less and afford other necessities they have.
Malnutrition and Hunger’s Roots
Due to lingering food security problems and accessibility in the Philippines, the number of individuals who are malnourished is becoming alarming.
UNICEF (2014) stated that 95 Filipino children die daily from malnutrition. Although there has been a slight improvement over the years, still, these individuals are persistent in experiencing unreasonable starvation, specifically those who live in the poorest provinces of the country.
In accordance with this, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (2019) mentioned that many Filipino families are struggling to consume nutrient-adequate diets due to unaffordable goods; thus, they are highly vulnerable to malnutrition and hunger.
Delving into specifics, in a 2021 report by the Philippine Statistics Authority, a family consisting of five members encompassed an estimated food threshold of about 8.4 thousand per month (Mendoza, 2022). The daily minimum wage in the Philippines, particularly in the National Capital Region (NCR), is PHP 570 (Department of Labor and Development, 2022), which could be estimated to be PHP 11000 to PHP 12000 salaries every month reserved for Filipino employees. This salary is divided into transportation, bills, food, and other necessities and wants.
Technically, there are high instances of an ordinary Filipino family encountering a conflicting challenge in putting food on their plates due to low income to support it. Moreover, high food costs and unresolved numbers of unemployed individuals in the country also contribute to the rapid escalation of these pressing issues.
In order to minimize or, hopefully, totally eradicate the extreme hunger and malnutrition in the nation, the government’s measures and plans should persistently exist in these times.
Government’s Response to the Issue
One way to achieve all the targets constituted in SDG 2 is to make the Philippine government accountable. Given that these difficulties affect the poor Filipinos and the nation’s economic progress, accountability ensures that the issues are properly addressed and taken into consideration.
During the Duterte administration, the former- president was able to sign an Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Zero Hunger. The IATF was formulated to address the issue of hunger, malnutrition, undernutrition, and food security by creating a National Food Policy (NFP) that would emphasize the government’s priorities and efforts to eliminate this pressing issue (Parrocha, 2020).
However, problems arose with the NFP as the pandemic forced drastic changes in economic growth; thus, the hunger percentage doubled (Cudis, 2021).
On the other hand, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. claimed during the 2022 presidential campaign that the cost of rice would drop to PHP 20 per kilo. Upon the start of his regime, Marcos Jr. launched a project called ‘Kadiwa ng Pasko’ and subsequently expanded into ‘Kadiwa ng Pangulo’ to give the Filipinos a more inclusive opportunity to access commodities at a lower price, such as rice with PHP 25 per kilo (Galvez, 2023).
This promise remains a menace to the farmers, considering that lowering the cost will affect the farmgate. In fact, during this campaign proposal of Marcos Jr., a group of farmers from Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (Pakisama) and Sumilao farmers disagreed with this considering the possible decline of the retail price from farms, and when this happened, the future of agriculture is at stake and may affect food security as few would be interested in farming (Locus, 2022).
The objective, expert-recommended approach of the Philippine government vis-a-vis the issue is still pending. Although the initial intention was to uplift Filipinos in poverty and hunger, those people behind would be left unattended.
Food Security in the Subsequent Years
Although SDG 2 targets aim to eradicate extreme hunger and improve nutrition and food security by 2030, the Philippines is currently having difficulty reaching it.
Several policies and programs were made, but still, improvements and precise roadmaps are nowhere to be seen in the limelight.
One top issue that contributes to the scarcity of food is poverty. As mentioned, the Philippines generates low income for the workers alongside unemployment is still visible; thus, food security has been concerning and affecting many Filipinos until now. The government should ensure that this issue will be the first one to be addressed.
As stated by the Department of Agriculture Communications Group (2020), Former DA Secretary William Dar uttered that poverty should be the top priority since a dearth of money will consequently result in Filipinos’ inability to afford sufficient food.
In line with this, one step to be considered is to give the government access to concepts vis-a-vis the development of policies, programs, and other initiatives to ameliorate the state of food security. Research can take place and influence through persistently instigating ideas alongside suggestions based on an in-depth investigation of the issue. In fact, subsequent research can be significant and helpful in recognizing short and long-term policies crucial to address hunger and other SDGs within the framework (Saccone, 2021).
In this field of deeply analyzing and comprehending what is lacking and needed to fill the gaps, the research could also be vital in determining which area needs to be noticed.
Coherently to Bhavani & Rampal (2020), food security would be achieved if agriculture is harnessed and all sustainable practices in this sector are practiced. Indeed, the potential contribution of research holds importance to change the trajectory of the policymakers and seek a more effective and precise plan to respond to this global concern.
Nonetheless, the significance of the food and the people who work in the sector of agriculture should be acknowledged during the celebration of Filipino Food Month.
In line with this, these people’s rights should be heard not solely to keep them from producing commodities but also to recognize their efforts to maintain and deliver healthy foods to their households. Without them, food security and accessibility in the Philippines will deteriorate over the coming years.
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