The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases recently created a Task Group on Food Security led by the Agriculture department.
The task force made the move following its recognition of the threat of hunger and the importance of securing a continuous supply of high-quality and affordable food for the residents of Metro Manila and other urban centers.
“On behalf of the members of the Task Group on Food Security, we thank and assure our IATF colleagues that we will do our utmost to secure enough food for our countrymen during this challenging time,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.
The Food Security Group is confident it can feed the nation in the midst of the fight against COVID-19.
The IATF on April 17 approved Resolution 25 creating the Task Force on Food Security to ensure food and water security, including shelter and energy, during the COVID-19 national emergency.
“Ensuring food security should be at the forefront of our priorities along with ensuring the safety and health of our people,” Dar said.
“Again, we stand by our conviction that the threat of hunger is as real as the threat of COVID-19,” Dar said.
“Guided by the whole-of-nation approach, the TGFS will work toward easing the uncertainties of our countrymen on the supply and movement of food from farm to table.”
The IATF-EID is composed of about two dozen Cabinet secretaries and heads of agencies. It has five task groups: anticipatory and forward planning; response operations; resource management and logistics; strategic communications and food security.
Ample supply
The Philippines has an ample supply of essential food-particularly chicken and pork-despite the extended enhanced community quarantine, a Palace official said Tuesday.
Cabinet Secretary and Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases spokesman Karlo Nograles says there will be a stable supply of chicken and pork until June despite the African swine fever and bird flu outbreaks.
“The Agriculture department is assuring there is enough supply of rice and essential food items like chicken and pork,” Nograles said.
He says the Philippines has 18 million metric tons of rice that could last for 84 days. It also has 1.95 million metric tons of chicken that is good for 62 days, and 1.12 million metric tons of pork that is enough for 10 days.
“To put it simply, we have food and we will not run out of supply in the markets,” Nograles said.
Earlier, Dar said the supply of chicken was estimated to exceed the annual requirement of 1.3 million metric tons by 24 percent, which is equivalent to more than 400,000 metric tons and enough for 157 days.
He also said there was an oversupply of pork among producers in the Visayas and Mindanao.
But he said the forecasts showed a possible deficit of about 121,000 metric tons by the end of the year due to a 21-percent decline in production.