Welcome to the Food Security in the Philippines site

Two days ago, I was in Isabela, one of the places in the Philippines where there is plenty of rice.  However, people were lining up for cheaper NFA rice.

These are some issues to be tackled in this blog?

1.  Why should rice prices be high in a province that produces rice

2.  Why do we have to import rice when:

   MIndoro, Iloilo, Mindanao, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Cagayan, Isabela produce rice.  Well we have typhoons but nevertheless we can overcome this if we have planning of areas in the Phil that are not hit by typhoon





3.  Why are cost of livestock so high?  Beef now is about P200.00 per kg.  Why because of the cost of feed?  Why is the cost of feed so high?  Because of corn.  Why is the cost of corn so high?  Because the cost of transporting this from Mindanao is so high.

Yet we have plenty of corn from Pangasinan and Isabela.

4.  Of the 10 million or so arable land in the Phil, only 4 million are planted to crops.  And most of these farms are not productive.

5.  Our farms are not that productive.  Most of the land is in the hands of tiller farmers and enough for subsistence.  In the US only about  one million farmers are involved in Agriculture and yet can feed USA and the rest of the world (through food aid).  The growth of the agricultural sector is in single digits despite vaunted growth of Philippine economy

6.  The high yielding rice variety SL -8 is not patronized by Filipino farmers.  The owner, Merit group which invested P500 million of family fortune into this venture, was disappointed that after the SL 8 for a while under ERAP, because of Politics, GMA did not patronize anymore this rice variety.  Thus Henry had to export this to Thailand, Vietnam and Africa.  We  understand  some farmers have to buy these seeds from Vietnam.  Hahaha.

7.  Many espouse organic farming and banning GMO crops.  But use of fertilizer and pesticides guarantee higher yield.  What is our choice?

8.  Compared to the Middle East, Philippines is much better off because we have fertile soil and rainfall.  Africa is plagued by wars, diseases: Ebola, tsetse flies, parasites. How can we help combat malnutrition and famine?  Yes we can?

9. Prices of food are increasing not because of lack of supply but because of choke points in the transportation supply chain. (traffic cops, traffic jams, kotong. etc)

10.  One such company ANI has addressed this issue of food supply and logistics.  I have met the owner