AGRI party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee on Sunday said boosting climate-resilient practices in Philippine agriculture would help in strengthening regional food security.
He issued the statement after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.called on world leaders to boost food security in the East Asian region in his intervention during the 17th East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
“In light of President Marcos’ call to strengthen regional food security, we must also, therefore, strengthen the Department of Agriculture’s Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative (AMIA) in
Agriculture and the Systems-wide Climate Change Office (DA-SWCCO) to boost the adoption of climate-resilient agriculture in the country,” he stressed.
The AMIA and DA-SWCCO should be given adequate legislative and budgetary support to help in community-level research and development interventions, particularly in the 17 pilot sites of the program, Lee said.
He cited a report from the Department of Agriculture (DA) showing that there is already
evidence of on-field adoption of climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) practices by small-scale farmers in aquaculture systems, livestock systems, vegetable production, integrated farming systems, and maize and rice cultivation.
“While some CRA practices are already being adopted by our farmers, the Department of Agriculture has noted that CRA uptake throughout the country is still low and limited by poor availability and access to improved seed, insufficient financial resources to cover
investment,” he said.
He said that according to the DA, climate change and variability is estimated to cost the Philippine economy approximately P26 billion yearly by 2050.