IN LIGHT of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s call to strengthen regional food security during the recent East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, AGRI Partylist Rep. Wilbert T. Lee on Wednesday said it is incumbent for government to strengthen climate resilient practices in Philippine agriculture to boost the country’s self-sufficiency programs.
In a statement, Lee pointed out that the Philippines had already made inroads in the adoption of climate resilient agriculture (CRA), but these needed to be strengthened if the country is to achieve food security amid the growing threats of climate change.
He cited a report from the Department of Agriculture (DA) showing that there is already evidence of on-field adoption of CRA practices by small-scale farmers in aquaculture systems, livestock systems, vegetable production, integrated farming systems and maize and rice cultivation.
“While some CRA practices are already being adopted by our farmers, the DA has noted that CRA uptake throughout the country is still low and limited by poor availability and access to improved seed, insufficient financial resources to cover investment,” Lee said.
“Therefore, we must strengthen the DA’s Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) and the Systems-wide Climate Change Office (DA-SWCCO) to boost the adoption of climate-resilient agriculture in the country,” he said.
The AMIA was created with the vision of building climate resilient livelihoods and communities in the agri-fisheries sector. This would be achieved through the Climate Resilient Agri-Fisheries Approach, by enabling local communities to manage climate risks while pursuing sustainable livelihoods.
On the other hand, the DA-SWCCO was created and mandated to oversee the flagship program of Climate Change, that is AMIA.
He said among the steps to boost CRA is to provide the AMIA and the DA-SWCCO with adequate legislative and budgetary support to help in community-level research and development interventions, particularly in the 17 pilot sites of the program.
The World Bank defines climate-resilient agriculture as an integrated approach to managing landscapes—cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries — that address the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change.
The Philippines’ geographical location and archipelagic formation make it one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change.
According to the Germanwatch Institute’s 2021 Global Climate Risk Index, the Philippines is the fourth most affected country in the 20-year period from 2000 to 2019.
Lee also cited a DA report wherein climate change and variability is estimated to cost the Philippine economy approximately PHP26 billion yearly by 2050.
Thus, he said building the resilience of agriculture and fisheries communities to climate change is crucial in achieving national food security.
In his intervention during the 17th EAS, Marcos said “it has become glaringly clear that there is a dire need to strengthen food security towards self-sufficiency in our region, to increase adaptability and resilience in the face of threats to the global supply chain.”
“It is incumbent upon us, for our sake and that of future generations, to act decisively and immediately on climate change,” Marcos stressed. (Jose Cielito Reganit)
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