War in Ukraine: Exacerbated food insecurity    

Since the day Russia’s invasion on Ukraine began, everyone was just conspicuously wary on the disruption of the supply in fossil fuel. Though pundits warned that it might exacerbate global food scarcities, this was never given as much prominence as that of the imminent shortages in oil and gas. 

The question is, how did it aggravate the lingering food crisis? The answer is too simple.  Together, Ukraine and Russia produce almost “a third of the world’s wheat and barley.” Moreover, “Russia and its ally Belarus are the world’s number two and three producers of potash, a key ingredient of fertilizer.” More importantly, “Ukraine is viewed “as the world’s bread basket” as on top of its wheat production, it is also exporting “15 percent of its corn and half of its sunflower oil.”

As Russia’s warships are cutting off Odessa, Chornomorsk and other ports of Ukraine from the world, the supply can only be transported inefficiently by land. Thus, some of Ukraine’s agricultural produce are rotting in its ports’ storages. 

Truth to tell, long before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, food insecurity (or the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food) was already felt in many countries. Then, primarily due to warming temperature, the number of people facing severe food insecurity was just 135 million. However, due to the recent developments (pandemic and Russian invasion on Ukraine), according to the United Nations, this number “doubled in just two years to 276 million today.”   

To some extent, some of our countrymen are into this predicament today. In us, this is quite revolting. Globally, aside from being known as one of the largest exporters of household helpers, we are considered as an agricultural country. Pertinent facts support this. All these years, not less than 25% or about 1/4 of our labor force is in the agriculture sector. However, lately, it only contributed a measly 7.4% to our GDP. Simply put, we are an agricultural country based on input not on output. What keeps our economy going is the contribution of our service and industry sectors which account for more than 90%. 

Thus, as has been the country’s norm, we’ve always opted for rice importation. With our population growing at the vicinity of 1.7 percent a year or close to 1.8 million, it seems that we will, probably, embrace this as a permanent solution. 

Not only that, to recall, despite being surrounded by bodies of water, we also imported 17,000 metric tons of “galunggong” or round scad fish several years ago. Apparently, in both instances (rice and fish imports), we can have countless of discourses and arguments as to how will these moves benefit some and disadvantage the others. Straightforwardly, however, these arguments will never help us solve these nagging food shortages.  What is important now is for the Department of Agriculture to come up with sustainable solutions to address these concerns.

Thus, to reemphasize, we should provide farmers the necessary infrastructure, such as, irrigation, storage facilities, transport equipment, packing and processing facilities. Moreover, supervised loans may also be considered to finance farm inputs. Done well, only then will we be able to let them till their lands profitably. 

Moreover, as the beneficiaries of the land reform program are struggling with their small pieces of lots, the Department of Agrarian Reforms must seriously step in and try to group them together to a size where they can afford to get professional help. As it is right now, what they get from their lots are just enough for their own needs. Simply put, they are only into subsistence farming.      

Equally important, we must not be dependent on the fishes we capture from the open seas or from existing corals and reefs. We must develop inland sources, like new fish ponds. Or, probably, new fish pens near the shorelines or lakes. Through these ponds and pens, we can raise milk fish, tilapia, sea or brackish water shrimps, fresh water shrimps (ulang), etc. If the ordinary families cannot afford these expensive species, inland ponds beside rivers and lakes can always raise carps. Just like “galunggong”, carp is also considered as a “poor man’s fish”. 

Honestly, in us, with or without the war in Ukraine, food insecurity is already a major concern.  This government must wake up. Do nothing, we will all starve.