Janette Toral posted a call for a discussion of issues relevant to the 2010 Philippine presidential elections, tagging a lot of bloggers in the process.

Instead of one post, I will make a series of post about this topic, and it will be an issue or two per post, hopefully. For every post, I will state an issue, explain why it should be an issue, and share my thoughts on the issue.

In this post, let me tackle something that is close to every Filipino’s heart (or stomach): rice.

In a previous post, I noted the Agriculture Secretary’s call to restaurants and fast food chain stores to reduce their serving of rice, yet the official stance of this regime is that there is no rice crisis nor shortage. However, Arthur Yap’s call, and the fact that Gloria Arroyo had to begask Vietnam for a guaranteed supply of rice speak otherwise.

Your grandparents (or maybe your parents) might have told you once or twice that the Philippines used to be a net exporter of rice. You might have heard an old citizen lament about the current situation. Now that we have become a net importer of rice, we are now dependent on the vagaries of the world rice market, and a contraction in rice supply worldwide affects this country greatly.

The Philippines remains an agricultural country. The fact that we are facing a shortage in the supply of rice is ironic. How have we come to this state?

The agrarian reform situation is a failure. The Sumilao case is a good example (though it seems a compromise has been reached). Also, some beneficiaries had sold their land due to debts incurred in tilling the land – of course, farmers had to buy seeds and fertilizers. The unabated land conversion is another problem – for local governments, conversion means more income via taxes.

Then we have the related infrastructure problems. For farming to be productive, good irrigation is a must. The same can be said for post-harvest facilities – including grain warehouses, modern farming equipment, and farm-to-market roads. It is said that our level of farming is stuck to the 1940s.

For our farmers to be self-sufficient, we must make farming productive. Without the right infrastructure, and pricing their produce very low, farming will remain a losing enterprise.

Why is this an issue? Food sufficiency is important for the country. It means we will no longer be dependent on imports. It means our food supply is not dependent on world price fluctuations. Food sufficiency should be addressed immediately. All sectors involved should have a master plan, preferably legislated so that it could withstand changes in leaders.

What do you think should be done to insure food sufficiency?

—

Previously:

* 2010 Philippine Elections: Important issues, 1
* 2010 Philippine Elections: Important issues, 2
* Eleksyon sa 2010: Mga mahalagang isyu, 3