Several Governors in Mindanao have already started implementing the Self-Sustaining Food Security Strategy (SSFSS) recommended by the Mindanao Development Authority by linking up with one another to ensure stable food supply for their constituents.
Davao Oriental Gov. Nelson Dayanghirang who earlier said his province would be needing additional rice supply was provided the information that the neighboring province of Davao de Oro under Gov. Tyron Uy may have excess production.
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said his province has sufficient food supply, especially Cassava which is a staple food for the Tausugs while MinDA is helping Tawitawi Gov Ysmael Sali transport some 2,000 metric tons of rice from Iloilo Province to Bongao.
Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco, on the other hand, is ready to implement the SSFSS in her province which would include the distribution of upland rice seeds to complement the lowland areas production.
Under Gov. Catamco’s SSFSS implementation, the provincial government will also distribute vegetable seeds and backyard chicken breeders to encourage farmers who are confined to their farms to produce more food.
She said farmers produce like chicken, hogs, eggs and vegetables may also be bought by the LGUs for distribution to residents as food assistance.
“We don’t know how long the problem would last that is why we have to be prepared,” Gov. Catamco said.
MinDA crafted the SSFSS earlier this week in the face of the threat that uncoordinated food supply distribution in Mindanao could create artificial shortages.
The lockdowns implemented by the different local government units due to the COVID-19 pandemic could also affect food supply distribution.
Undersecretary Janet Lopoz was tasked to disseminate the program to local government unit executives since I am still under a 14-day quarantine following my travel to Kota Kinabalu.
Under SSFSS, LGU Chief Executives will be asked to undertake the following actions:
1. Design and implement a Municipal or Provincial Food Security Action Plan;
2. Conduct an inventory and Quantify existing supplies of basic food commodities like rice, eggs, poultry, meat and fruits like banana;
3. Identify individuals or groups which could undertake sustained food production;
4. Encourage families, especially those confined to their farms, to undertake simple food production activities like vegetable growing and backyard chicken raising by distributing seeds and breeding materials for chicken;
5. Utilize locally produced food commodities i.e. fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, rice, pork, meat for calamity assistance, thus creating a localized market for farmers’ and fishermen’s produce whose distribution is impaired by the existing lockdowns;
6. Identify neighboring LGUs which would have excess production of any food commodity and forge an alliance of two or more LGUs to establish a symbiotic food supply relationship;
7. Establish a marketing and distribution system which would ensure available food supply for the families within the community while at the same time, mindful of the quarantine protocols enforced.
The SSFSS is expected to ensure sufficient food production and sound distribution method in the different areas in Mindanao.
(SSFSS program illustration was created by John Pagaduan while the photos of the Governors were downloaded from public websites.)
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