Agriculture industry stakeholders called for more government intervention to ensure food security while addressing the people’s nutritional needs, especially those exposed to adverse climactic and weather conditions.
Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) chairman Rosendo So said that unlike in urban areas where people can immediately continue with their daily routine when floods subside, people in rural communities have to bear the brunt of lost livelihoods, lost income, and the difficulty of rebuilding their homes.
As such, he said there is an urgent need to increase private investments and public expenditures to protect and support domestic agriculture.
A strong and viable domestic agriculture and resilient rural communities are the best defenses against the threats of climate change, he added.
“We enjoin everyone to support children in communities that need extra nutrition and we encourage them to source this from our own harvests and local production,” So said.
SINAG kicked off last week a feeding program for the poor with the end goal of promoting local products.
“The food we’re sharing are actual harvests of Filipino rice and vegetable farmers, while the pork, chicken and fish were raised by our backyard and commercial raisers. In Calasiao alone, backyard and commercial hog raisers contributed more than 2,200 kilos of pork; while rice farmers and rice millers in Pangasinan donated 40 sacks (2,000 kilos) of rice,” he said.
As part of the World Food Day celebration, the group of farmers, hog raisers and other agriculture industry workers kicked-off a series of feeding programs with close to 25,000 children and adults in flood-hit areas of Bulacan and Pangasinan.
Dubbed “Sa Maunlad na Agrikultura, Bansa ay Sasagana,” SINAG’s simultaneous feeding programs were held in 27 public schools in Calasiao, Pangasinan and in Jubilee Home, Lumang Bayan, Plaridel, Bulacan. Similar activities are planned in Albay province and Yolanda-hit areas in the Visayas.
