A Country Which Couldn’t Feed
Its Own People Is A Failed State!
By Emmanuel F. Piñol, PhD
Sec. of Agriculture 2016-2019
MinDA Chairman 2019-2021
There are two contrasting stories, one recorded in the Bible 2,700BC and the other only very recently, which emphasize the importance of food security in the survival of a nation.
The Bible tells of a story of how Joseph, one of Jacob’s 12 sons who was sold by his brothers to slavery, was appointed by the Pharaoh as administrator of Egypt at the time when the nation was enjoying 7-Years of Bountiful Harvest.
Wise as he was, Joseph knew that the years of bountiful harvest would not last and there could be a shortage of food afterwards.
“Joseph…went through all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 41:46) on an inspection tour. He would have to become familiar with the people who managed agriculture, the locations and conditions of the fields, the crops, the roads, and means of transportation. It is inconceivable that Joseph could have accomplished all of this on a personal level. He would have had to establish and oversee the training of what amounted to a Department of Agriculture and Revenue. During the seven years of abundant harvest, Joseph had the grain stored in cities (Gen. 41:48-49). During the seven lean years that followed, Joseph dispensed grain to the Egyptians and other people who were affected by the widespread famine,” said an entry in the theology of work website.
The modern story on the importance of food security involves Venezuela, inarguably one of the richest countries in South America at the height of its economic boom because of its huge oil reserves and the very high price of oil in the world market.
Happy and contented with their income from Oil, Venezuelan authorities neglected their Agriculture Sector and relied on imported food and goods to feed their people.
When the Venezuelan Oil Industry collapsed, food shortage hit the country resulting in food riots and mass exodus to neighboring countries where food was available.
These two contrasting stories mirror the current state of food security that we have in the Philippines.
We could have abundant harvest because we have the resources considering that we have 30-million hectares of land, 36,000-kilometers of coastline, a heavy rainfall, huge lakes and hundreds of living rivers but our economic planners take all of these for granted.
They say that since our cost of production is higher than our neighbors, we should just import our food and goods from Vietnam, Thailand and others forgetting the fact that at the start of the COVID 19 Pandemic, Vietnam suspended its export of rice to ensure supply for their own people.
We are one of the countries with the highest risk of being affected by Climate Change and natural disasters, the worst of which was Typhoon Yolanda when we had to rely on foreign donors to bring food to the thousands affected by the calamity.
The Philippines must produce the food needed by its people. It must establish storage systems just like what Joseph did 2700BC to prepare for the most unexpected calamity or disaster.
Most of all, we must not rely on imported food and goods to supply the needs of our people because not only would this drain our precious foreign reserves, this policy also deprives our own food producers of income opportunity and our own workers the jobs.
If we Filipinos do not learn lessons from the Bible and from the story of Venezuela, we are doomed as a nation.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
#LearnLessonsInHIstoryOrPerish!
(Photos of Egypt’s 7-Year Famine were downloaded from Bible Images while photos of food riots in Venezuela are credited to public websites.)
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