Tragico, Felicity D.S.

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Four Dimensions on Food Security

If there’s one thing that agricultural experts can agree on, it’s this: food security is
a “now” issue. More than ever, it is important now to address challenges surrounding the
adequacy of the essential needs of an individual. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs theory, “The longer a person goes without food, the hungrier they will become.
Maslow (1943) initially stated that individuals must satisfy lower-level deficit needs before
progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. From the foundation through the apex
on Maslow’s pyramid-shaped Hierarchy of Needs, physiological needs (air, water, food,
shelter, sleep, and sex) are the primary level, hence, safety, security and order are the
secondary level. It is notable that an access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food is a
basic human right, with priority given to the most vulnerable. Food insecurity is the state
of living without reliable to affordable, nutritious food.

According to the World Health Organization, poverty amplifies the risk of, and risk
from malnutrition. Citing its Family Income and Expenditure survey, the PSA said the
country has 19.99 million individuals living below the poverty threshold. This represents
18.1 percent of the population. Rising food costs, along with other shocks such as
drought, floods, and economic crises are some of the major impacts on food and nutrition
security as these push the most vulnerable household further into poverty and weaken
their ability to access adequate food. While malnutrition prevalence had been failing over
the years, it remains high. As of 2019, 5.8 percent or around 600,00 children under five
years old are wasted, 19 percent or 2.1 million are underweight, and 28.8 percent or 3.2
million children are stunted (National Economic and Development Authority, 2021).
Furthermore, data from the Department of Science and Technology- Food and Nutrition
Research Institute showed that the number of food-insecure Filipino household grew to
64. 1 percent in 2019 from 53.9 percent in 2018. Filipinos who could not afford a healthy
diet also increased to 75.2 million in 2022 from 74.2 million in 2019 (State of Food Security
and Nutrition in the World, 2022). Moreover, based on The Economist’s 2021 Global Food
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Security Index, the Philippines ranked 64th out of 113 countries in terms of its four
dimensions of food security. Notably, after the World War II ended, the world still had to
contend with population explosions, hunger, and poverty (Panay News, 2022).

The Philippines, just like other countries in the world, was actively searching for
solutions through the conduct of research and the implementation of various agricultural
programs and nutrition programs aimed at increasing food production and fighting the
widespread malnutrition, especially among Filipino children (Panay News, 2022). Hence,
apart from basic nutrition, food security is linked to economic stability, long-term health,
women’s empowerment, and the environment. Despite the significant progress in staining
food security in the Philippines, the government still needs to address challenges in the
agriculture sector to ensure the goal is achieved. Notably, various indicators for the four
dimensions of food security, namely, food availability, food accessibility, food utilization,
and stability, showed that food security in the Philippines is yet to be achieved.

In terms of food utilization, which includes food consumption, food quality, and food
safety, while hunger incidence and malnutrition have improved, the latter’s progress has
been slow in the past decade. The average food intake of Filipinos is also “high in cereals
and tubers, but low in fruits and vegetables”. On food affordability, many Filipino
households are unable to consume nutrient-adequate diets due to its unaffordability, with
the poorest households suffering the most as seen in their low diet quality and high
incidence of malnutrition. For food accessibility, the Philippines scores lower than its
neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in agricultural infrastructure,
particularly on logistics system. The limited farm-to-market roads and high transportation
costs contribute to this problem. On food availability, domestic demand for rice has been
growing faster than local production, which inevitably contributes to the widening supply
gap. From the aforementioned challenges, I can say that my stand on this issue can be
inconclusive (in between the yes or no).

Given the challenges, government are the primary actors in the physical, social,
and economic aspects of a nation’s food security, so any attempts to improve agriculture
and food security outcome must also consider the role of governance. Food security is
attainable in the next 10 years only if the government address the problem by urgency
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and spatially. The government, according to PIDS study, should adopt a “system
approach” to achieve coherence in its food and nutrition security policies. It should
consider the “other systems” such as education, social protection, water and sanitation,
and health systems. A strategic plan should also be formulated, which includes the
integration of both food security and nutrition security. This plan must contain objectives,
key performance indicators, and major initiatives and projects of different stakeholders.

Government interventions to help achieve food security is needed to be

categorized by urgency and spatially. For instance, children and lactating women in the
poorest areas should be prioritized for immediate implementation of appropriate
interventions. Meanwhile, improving the nutrient content of food products and raising the
public’s awareness of healthy diet can be done in the medium term. In the long term, the
government can pursue food affordability by improving the efficiency of food systems or
increasing the income of household in relation to the prices of other commodities. To sum
up, there is no food security, no poverty reduction, no environmental sustainability without
transforming our agricultural practices- which is superintended by our government.

References:

Project to address food security issues in PH via improvement of vegetable value chain
begins | Philippines | Countries & Regions | JICA. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.jica.go.jp
website: https://www.jica.go.jp/philippine/english/office/topics/news/220121_02.html

Is Food Supply Accessible, Affordable, and Stable? The State of Food Security in the
Philippines. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.pids.gov.ph website:
https://www.pids.gov.ph/publication/discussion-papers/is-food-supply-accessible-
affordable-and-stable-the-state-of-food-security-in-the-
philippines#:~:text=Based%20on%20The%20Economist
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WFP’s Support to the Philippines Government’s Initiatives in Achieving Zero Hunger by

2030 - 2020 - Philippines. (n.d.). Retrieved from Relief Web website:
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achieving-zero-hunger-2030

Philippines’ efforts towards Sustainable Food Security highlighted at Global Youth

Institute Address. (n.d.). Retrieved from dfa.gov.ph website:
https://dfa.gov.ph/authentication-functions/189-newsroom/7544-philippines-efforts-
towards-sustainable-food-security-highlighted-at-global-youth-institute-address

PH GOV’T COMMITS TO ENSURE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, FOOD SECURITY IN

THE COUNTRY - NEDA - The National Economic and Development Authority. (2021,
April 27). Retrieved from The National Economic and Development Authority website:
https://neda.gov.ph/ph-govt-commits-to-ensure-human-development-food-security-in-
the-country-neda/

Jr, R. P. P. (2022, September 12). Local solutions toward food security. Retrieved from
INQUIRER.net website: https://business.inquirer.net/361905/local-solutions-toward-
food-security

Challenges in achieving food security. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from
www.pids.gov.ph website: https://www.pids.gov.ph/details/news/in-the-news/challenges-
in-achieving-food-security

McLeod, S. (2007). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from Simply Psychology

website: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html