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Marcos at World Economic Forum: Food from toil will nourish our bodies


President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Wednesday pushed for food security through production at the session on nutrition security at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Marcos suggested a boost in productivity in agriculture and fisheries, including through climate-resilient technologies, and promote production even in non-agricultural areas such as urban and vertical farming, and community gardening for subsistence supply. 

"The food from the toil of our own hands is the food that will most nourish our bodies," Marcos said.

Marcos cited the 2021 Global Food Security Index which ranked the Philippines "a modest 64th out of 113 countries in four dimensions of food security metrics."

"We have made significant gains in the past few years, but more certainly needs to be done if we are to attain Sustainable Development Goal 2 on Zero Hunger," Marcos said.

"It bears emphasizing that the challenge of nutrition is different for you and for me, from your economy to mine, from us here, to the people back home," he added.

Marcos said the Philippines' priority interventions "are those geared towards making food available, affordable, accessible amid the looming global food and energy shortage." 

"Government spending will focus on productivity-enhancing interventions for the agricultural sector, research and development is going to be a very important component for this as... with the advent of climate change issues, the impact on climate change has to be part of that discussion," Marcos said.

Marcos said there will also be focus on the distribution sector "for as all governments we buy a lot of food to provide for our schools, there’s a feeding program for children, to provide for, especially during the pandemic for assistance to those who are in trouble."

‘No choice’

In an interview on the plane en route to Switzerland, Marcos defended the importation of onions saying “our government had no choice but to import.”

He said the administration is looking for ways to increase the production of onions and other products in order to avoid importing them.

Marcos also told reporters that his administration would maintain a two-month buffer stock to ensure that there was no shortage of supply.

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is now drafting a plan to import up to 450,000 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar in response to his directive. —JP Soriano/NB, GMA Integrated News

 

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