Group Number: 6​

Topic: Food Security and Agro-ecology​

Names: Deluria, Lamzon, Tamayo​
Key Issues:
A.​ Subsidies, Imports, and Exports
B.​ Institutions and Governance in the Agricultural Sector
C.​ Volatility of Food Prices
Context:
A.​ Issue: Government interventions, originally meant to support local farmers, often benefit
large agribusinesses and reinforce dependency on imports.
A1. Trade liberalization policies encourage excessive reliance on imports which harms
local food production and farmer income.
A2. Subsidies and grants provided by government institutions and NGOs fail to
discriminate between farmers in need of assistance and those who do not.
B.​ Issue: An over centralisation of agricultural systems have led to one-size-fits-all systems,
stunting growth in the agricultural sector, as such systems, programs, and policies
prioritize corporate interests over food sovereignty
B1. Anti-farmer reforms, such as the National Land Use Act (NLUA) and the New
Agrarian Emancipation Act (NAEA), facilitate land grabbing and agribusiness expansion
rather than ensuring land access to smallholder farmers. NLUA allows landowners to
reclassify agricultural lands as industrial, commercial, or residential, preventing farmers
from securing their land rights. NAEA cancels farmer debts but does not provide
mechanisms for land ownership, leaving them vulnerable to losing their lands to
agribusiness corporations.
B2. The absence of genuine agrarian reform leaves farmers landless, forcing them to
work under exploitative conditions instead of fostering self-sufficient farming
communities. The Build, Build, Build program, while boosting infrastructure, has led to
the conversion of agricultural lands for roads, railways, and urban expansion, further
marginalizing farmers.
C.​ Issue: Climate change, reliance on imports, and market speculation create food price
instability, disproportionately affecting small farmers and consumers.
C1. The prolonged El Niño phenomenon affects the pricing and instability of rice
dependent regions.
C2. Dependency on imports for key agricultural products leaves prices unstable and
reliant on government intervention.
Interventions:
 A.​ Reduce import dependency by investing in local food production capacity and supporting
sustainable farming practices and strengthen trade policies to protect domestic farmers
while ensuring market competitiveness
B.​ Ensure better implementation of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB), which has
been filed in Congress but remains unapproved. Unlike CARP, GARB proposes free land
distribution which would prevent agribusiness land grabbing and ensuring farmer
ownership.
C.​ Promote self-sufficiency by incentivizing local production and reducing reliance on food
imports and implement price stabilization programs and price ceilings to protect both
farmers and consumers
Challenges:
A1. Possible lack of cooperation from stakeholders, particularly farmers, due to past
experiences with ineffective or exploitative initiatives
A2. Reforms in subsidies and trade policies may face opposition from influential
agribusiness sectors
B1. Lack of proper budgeting/financing to execute the proposed plans.
B2. Slow government processes may delay the implementation of necessary reforms
C1. Disasters, specifically the lack of disaster response on local levels, significantly
impact the availability of food. Moreover, efforts are directed more towards agriculture
rather than the environment and natural resources – sectors which would improve
defenses and coping with disasters
C2. Water scarcity and degraded soil conditions may further limit productivity in key
agricultural regions
Conclusion/Synthesis:
The struggle for food security in the Philippines is deeply intertwined with the fight for genuine
agrarian reform. Decades of land dispossession, neoliberal trade policies, and weak institutional
support have left Filipino farmers in a cycle of poverty and food insecurity. The dominance of
corporate agribusinesses and foreign control over land resources has exacerbated the
vulnerability of local food production, making the country reliant on unstable global markets for
essential commodities.
For example, the 2023 onion crisis saw prices surge to ₱700/kg due to supply chain
mismanagement and import reliance, highlighting the need for stronger local production.
Similarly, during El Niño years, rice shortages drive up prices, emphasizing the urgency of
climate-adaptive farming.
To ensure food security, we must prioritize local farmers, strengthen agricultural governance, and
reduce import dependency. Passing the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) and rejecting
anti-farmer policies like Cha-Cha are crucial steps toward this goal. Only through just and
sustainable agricultural policies can we build a self-sufficient and resilient food system that
serves the Filipino people.
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