At the height of the food price crisis in 2008, the Philippines was among the countries with ‘severe localized food insecurity’, requiring external assistance in food. A series of severe weather-related events in 2009 damaged the economy, costing more than twice the national budget for agriculture that year. In 2010, rice imports reached an all-time high, making the Philippines the biggest rice importing country in the world that year.
There are 94 million Filipinos today – 4 million more than in 2008. The population is expected to continue to grow by about 2 million a year. The domestic food chain – from farm to table – is under great pressure, corroded by years of neglect.
Changes in the use of agricultural land, the degradation of ecosystems and the impacts of climate change are increasing the food production burden on agricultural communities in the Philippines. These challenges have together made the Philippines more vulnerable to global food price volatility. Weathering the Crises, Feeding the Future examines the issues confounding the Philippine food system and sets out recommendations for a new agricultural future in which Filipinos have enough to eat, always.