Further opening up of economy needed – Dar

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary William Dar has emphasized the need to further open up the economy to address hunger in the country amid the pandemic.

On top of increasing the country’s food sufficiency level to address hunger, Dar said there is a need to rev up the economy to create more income opportunities for the benefit of the poorer sectors of society.

“A more focused approach is necessary to manage the country’s hunger problem,” Dar said during the first anniversary of the InterAgency Task Force on Zero Hunger.

“There are many strategies that we need to pursue. These include opening up the economy, creating more jobs, and implementing livelihood and income-generating opportunities to lift our poor countrymen from poverty and hunger,” he said.

To address these problems, the Department of Agriculture (DA) aims to double the income of farmers who are the foundation of the country’s food systems to stimulate them to continue efforts in feeding the population.

The DA will also focus on lowering costs of production and ensuring ready markets for farm and fishery products to balance affordable food for consumers and provide decent profit for farmers.

The Task Force on Zero Hunger, chaired by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and vice-chaired by Dar, is tasked to coordinate, rationalize, monitor, and assess the efforts of concerned government agencies and instrumentalities to eradicate hunger and achieving food security.

It also created the National Food Policy that features six key result areas: review and rationalize existing policies, rules and regulations related to zero hunger; ensure available and affordable food; secure nutrition adequacy; secure food accessibility and safety; ensure sustainable food systems, food resiliency and stability; and ensure information, education, awareness, and people participation.