MALACAÑANG is calling for a food security summit with the local government units (LGUs) and the private sector’s industry players and stakeholders amid the current challenges faced by the agriculture sector.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the summit was aimed at addressing current challenges affecting food security, presenting plans and programs that were geared toward solving the problem, and bringing together support to pave the way for a profitable agriculture and fishery sector.
“The Executive branch is calling for a Food Security Summit, with the Department of Agriculture (DA) as lead agency, to continue to boost and develop the agri-fishery sector through the cooperation, coordination and collaboration of the local government units (LGUs) and the private sector’s industry players and stakeholders,” Roque said in a statement.
“The Food Security Summit likewise aims to discuss mitigation measures on current issues affecting the agriculture sector such as the upsurge in the prices of pork, drop in farmgate prices of palay, the onslaught of the African Swine Flu (ASF), among others,” he added.
The Palace official said the summit “further seeks to present some models for agribusiness value-chain approach, LGU-led agri-fishery extension system, and strengthening the role and capacities of local price coordinating councils and regional development councils.”
“As part of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s whole-of-government approach, the summit aims to develop a National Food Security Plan to achieve our vision of a food-secure and resilient Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolks, and where consumers have continuous flow of food and producers have continuous productivity, unhampered movement of agricultural commodities, accessibility and price stability,” he said.
This came as pork prices soared as the local hog industry battled the spread of African swine fever. The disease has disrupted the operations of hog farms in Batangas, Bulacan and nearby provinces, prompting hog raisers in the Visayas and Mindanao to supply Metro Manila.
President Duterte has issued Executive Order 124, which imposed a 60-day freeze in the prices of pork and chicken in Metro Manila.
Source: ManilaTimes
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