WITH the country facing hunger, food security should be the top priority of the next administration, Senator Leila de Lima said on Thursday.

“Local domestic production has to mean more than just ‘national’ food supply and security; it ought to mean ‘local’ on the local government level,” De Lima said.

The chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development lamented the lack of foresight in the exceedingly expansive transformation of agricultural lands into commercial and residential areas.

“This has led to the rise of real estate billionaires, while the ordinary people are left food-insecure and perpetually locked in a losing battle against rising food prices,” the senator said.

“Kailangang mamuhunan sa pagpapalago ng lokal na supply ng pagkain, lalo na sa pamamagitan ng pag-aangat sa kakayahan at pagsusulong ng makabagong teknolohiya na makatutulong sa produksyon ng ating mga mangingisda, magsasaka at manggagawa sa industriya,” she stressed.

In 2019, close to 750 million people, or nearly one in ten people, were reportedly exposed to severe levels of food insecurity.

In the Philippines, food insecurity was highest between April and May 2020, when the country was placed under enhanced community quarantine.

In a Nutrition Assessment Survey conducted from Nov. 3 to Dec. 3, 2020, the Department of Science and Technology found that of the 5,717 households surveyed composed of 7,240 individuals, 62.1 percent or six out of 10 said they experienced moderate to severe food insecurity.

The Philippine Statistics Authority, meanwhile, found that poverty incidence increased to 23.7 percent during the first half of 2021 from 21.1 percent in the same period in 2018.

“The right to adequate food is a human right which all governments must address. Aside from enacting a Right to Adequate Food law, we need to review and revise our food security laws in light of the experience with their implementation or non-implementation, as the case may be,” De Lima said.

“This includes protection for farmers and intensified efforts in helping them bring their produce to the market at fair and competitive pricing,” she added.

De Lima also urged the Department of Agriculture to expand programs to provide logistical support to farmers to ensure that their produce reach the market.