A rice watchdog on Tuesday asserted that rice self-sufficiency “is neither obsolete nor unattainable" as it criticized a government think-tank’s report saying the Philippines can achieve food security without becoming self-sufficient in rice.
In a statement, Bantay Bigas spokesperson Lita Mariano said rice self-sufficiency “is the only way the country can ensure food security for the millions of Filipinos without relying on the unstable supply of rice in the world market."
“Rice importation is only a temporary measure, a stop-gap measure to fill in the 10-percent shortage in the country’s rice production," Mariano added.
In a report dated May 2011, the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) said the Philippines “has been and shall continue to be a major rice importer."
“A nation can be self-sufficient and face security; on the other hand, it can be a rice importer and maintain a high level of food security," the PIDS said in its report titled “Putting Rice on the Table: Rice Policy, the WTO, and Food Security."
“Food self-sufficiency at best protects a country from external policy shocks emanating from export restrictions. However, this is best addressed through regional and multilateral cooperation and negotiation, rather than through costly domestic policies," said the PIDS.
Mariano said the PIDS appears to have “a distorted sense of food security."
“It fails to consider that rice available in the global market is only seven percent of the total rice production. Continuous reliance on rice importation as the PIDS suggests will compromise the country’s food security," she added.
