Rationale

The enduring COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp spike in hunger among
Filipinos resulting from an extended lockdown in this country. Small scale food
producers like farmers and fisher folks are heavily affected by the pandemic. They are
facing risks every day as they leave their homes to find markets for their products. The
majority of farmers in the Philippines earn low costs for their fresh agricultural products
because traders will purchase them at a cheap rate and resell them to the market at a
heavy price. According to Neil (2020), he stated in his article that the Filipino farmer are
struggling after a year of lockdowns and disasters decimated crops and income. And
their pain has been passed on to consumers in the form of soaring food prices and
rising hunger.

All of us have seen how rapidly our lives can change due to this pandemic. Our
way of buying our food is no exception. We needs to step up its game in advertising a
new platform in which farmers can sell their products directly to the consumers. In an
accordance to the article, there’s a large percentage of the population doesn’t want to
go out to the market to shop and to select the needs they want because of the virus.
With the rise of food delivery platform, the researchers think of integrating this concept
with the agriculture field. The primary objective today, as we faced global pandemic is to
expand the agriculture sector in order to achieve food self-sufficiency, elevate rural
communities, and boost farmer income.
 As an agricultural country, the Philippines must engage in fostering equitable
growth and developing more sustainable agriculture and food systems that are resilient
to disasters and can effectively adapt to climate change impacts. The primary objective
is to expand the agriculture sector in order to achieve food self-sufficiency, elevate rural
communities, and boost farmer income.
Like other rapidly growing and urbanizing middle-income countries, the Philippines is experiencing a structural
transformation of its economy. Structural transformation has progressed slowly in the Philippines, however,
indicating that Philippine agriculture is not performing to its potential and therefore not fully delivering to the
national (and rural) economy. 

Filipino farm workers like Gameng are struggling after a year of lockdowns and
disasters decimated crops and income. And their pain has been passed on to
consumers in the form of soaring food prices and rising hunger.

Food inflation rates reached 6.2 percent in March, and more than one in five Filipinos
didn’t have enough food to eat at some point in 2020 – a record high that is double pre-
pandemic levels – according to household surveys by Social Weather Stations, a non-
profit research institution (2020).
Vegetables and fruits are mostly perishables. Lockdowns have affected deliveries like
vegetables from North Luzon to Manila and other regions. Some areas are able to
manage in that their harvests are being bought by the local government units, private
sector and non-government organizations for relief distribution. Others are not as lucky,
and they just let their produce rot in the fields due to the absence of buyers.

Fishery contracted in the first quarter of 2020. It is unlikely to quickly recover soon

since the first semester is fishing season.

Livestock: Hogs production is down due to the African swine fever since 2019. The
earlier lockdown on hog movement affected supply chains, from breeding to fattening.

Poultry production is up for at least two factors: a shift in demand from pork and heavy
engagement of integrators like San Miguel and Bounty. However, UBRA’s Gregorio San
Diego urged the government in a recent interview to stop chicken importation. There is
an oversupply with the lack of demand as a large part of consumption comes from
hotels, restaurants, and institutions which are closed due to the enhanced community
quarantine period. The cold storages are full as demand has slackened. Egg production
appears doing well.

Treecrops or permanent crops led by coconut, rubber, and coffee are unlikely to be

affected as they are already standing crops, but world prices and demand have a strong
influence on income.
Altogether, the sector’s annual target for the year is compromised. That goes for rural
poverty alleviation, too.

Figure 7.9 Logistical bottlenecks at all parts of the supply chain, particularly for transport inputs and
movement at rural–urban borders

As of 2 April 2020, 21,177 Food Lane Passes had been distributed for Luzon alone according to
the Department of Agriculture Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service. Despite
sufficient Food Lane Passes being issued, it has been widely reported that ad hoc stoppages
have disrupted the flow of food into the NCR (Figure 7.9).

The country has a land so fertile that one Israeli agriculturist once said that the Philippines could
produce enough food to feed the world and seas so wide and islands so plentiful we could not even get
the exact number. Yet the poorest sectors of society are in farming and fisheries.
As the lockdown in the Philippines reaches over 60 days, food and relief
measures are becoming scarce in many areas whilst some food-producing
provinces like Benguet and Tarlac, the oversupply of vegetables resulted in
the loss of income and food wastage. More than ever, food security has
become a major problem in the Philippines, a known agriculture-based
country in the Southeast Asian Region.
.
Monina Geaga, a vegetable farmer from Capas, Tarlac, lost most of her
income. Her vegetable products, considered as high-value crops, were
intended for the Quezon City market. The ECQ prompted her to sell the
vegetables in her village at 1/3 of the original price instead. Some were
given away or fed to animals.

References:

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Aspinwall, N., Mednick, S., Maxwell, D., Hailey, P., Khalif, A., Seal, A., Waal, A. de, Haan, N.,
& Checchi, F. (2021, July 2). As hunger rises, Philippine authorities take aim at critics.
The New Humanitarian. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2021/4/20/food-hunger-and-covid-19-in-the-
philippines.

Neil. (2020, June 15). Philippine agriculture and covid-19 impact. BusinessWorld. Retrieved
September 28, 2021, from https://www.bworldonline.com/philippine-agriculture-and-
covid-19-impact/.

Bank, W. (2020, June 1). Transforming Philippine Agriculture. Open Knowledge Repository.
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https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34012.

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from
https://www.da.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The_Philippine_Agriculture_Today_a
nd_the_Future.pdf.
Novio, E. (n.d.). Farmers, fisherfolk lament limited aid, logistical challenges brought by
covid19. Greenpeace Philippines. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
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Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2021, August 27). Stay safe, have fun
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