FOR decades, the government has been formulating policies to resolve hunger.The solutions that the previous presidents thought would work didn’t actually sit well as figures remained alarming to date.
Under the previous administration, an Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger was created with a mandate to formulate a National Food Policy that will outline the government’s priorities and map efforts to achieve zero hunger.
Well and good. The fact that the government recognizes the prevalence of involuntary hunger, food security, undernutrition, and child wasting, stunting and mortality, as serious concerns in the country is a giant step towards resolving the problem.
However, the on-and-off coordination on top of government resources has kept the drive from rolling out the first stage of a multi-level approach to eradicate hunger and achieve food security.
Yes, all presidents in the last 50 years have tried to resolve poverty but the problem of hunger and malnutrition still remains.
For one, the Philippines is an agricultural country per se, which makes it rather weird that we could not even produce enough food for local consumption.
Worse, the Philippines has become heavily dependent on imported food from neighboring countries – including China, which has been hauling fish from our seas. To make it more complicated, we buy those fish that Chinese fishing vessels got from our territorial waters.
President Marcos said that his administration will not only ensure an abundant food supply, but will also ensure the nutritional value of the food that will be provided on the table of every Filipino family especially to the children and nursing mothers through the FSP.
Zero Hunger may seem like an impossible goal, unless the government realizes the each problem has its corresponding solution.
Perhaps the modest way is to ensure people in conflict-affected areas will not have food weaponized against them. In the vernacular, it is called ‘pantawid-gutom.”
The government should anticipate, respond and build resilience against the shocks and stresses of climate extremes.
Perhaps the government may also consider leveraging social safety nets, which include – but should not be limited to cash assistance and infrastructure to financially empower communities and local markets.
Another crucial part of the solution is connecting small-scale farmers with the tools they need to maintain sustainable agriculture for their country’s food security, making sure that the ample food that is grown across the country does not go to waste due to improper management or redistribution.
Most importantly, the government should protect the farmers and fishermen from losing their farmlands and fishing ground to the vultures.
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