RESPONSE FROM NEDA
Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, PhD
National Economic and Development Authority 

 46th Annual Scientific Meeting of the NAST
“Beyond Farm Productivity: Transforming the Philippine Food System to Address Equity, Consumer Health, and Environmental Issues” 

 July 11, 2024 | 2:00 PM | The Manila Hotel, City of Manila 

 

• NAST President Academician Jaime Montoya, 

• Academician Mudjekeewis Santos, Chair of the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting Resolutions Committee,  

• Secretary Renato Solidum, Jr., 

• Representatives of fellow Cabinet Members 

• Esteemed National Scientists and fellow Academicians, 

• Officials and distinguished guests,  

• Friends, ladies and gentlemen,  

 

Good afternoon.

I am deeply honored to provide the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) response to the Resolutions made during this 46th Annual Scientific Meeting of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). 

“No hungry Filipino.” 

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. responded when asked about his vision for the country. This is aligned with the Filipino people’s collective vision of a matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay, as articulated in the AmBisyon Natin 2040. This year’s theme, “Beyond Farm Productivity: Transforming the Philippine Food System to Address Equity, Consumer Health, and Environmental Issues,” resonates well with the Marcos Administration’s socioeconomic priorities. 

There is wisdom in framing the theme as such. Under the Philippine Development Plan or PDP 2023-2028, food security is characterized not just by its availability but by the equally important dimensions of accessibility, affordability, and impact on the health and well-being of our citizenry. When we consider these other aspects, our food system thus comprises not just our farming sector but also the supporting infrastructure, policies, and institutions that affect domestic production and which ultimately shape consumer choice and, consequently, health outcomes.  

Yesterday’s and today’s discussions have underscored the urgent need to enact long-overdue changes in our country’s food system. With our growing population and rising incomes owing to sustained economic growth, transforming this system is vital to meet rising food demand, manage upward price pressures that threaten food security, and dampen the momentum for sustained poverty reduction. Over the past two years, we have seen how food inflation has proven to be a persistent challenge, with the compounded impacts of supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions, climate change-induced weather disturbances, and domestic policy coordination issues affecting our ability to meet our socioeconomic objectives. Evidently, to address the deep-rooted problems in this sector, no less than a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach is required as we deploy the various policy tools we have in our arsenal. 

In support of our food system, the government is accelerating its infrastructure drive to upgrade our physical and digital connectivity networks, logistics, and storage facilities. We are aware that modernizing our infrastructure can significantly reduce post-harvest losses while reducing our carbon footprint, encourage product diversification into higher-value-added crops and alternative food staples, as mentioned in the Resolutions, and ensure that what we produce reaches our consumers despite the expected occurrence of calamities, emergencies, and natural disasters. 

Indeed, advancing research and development in the food sector is critical. Improved food preservation techniques and smart packaging can help minimize spoilage and ensure access to safe and nutritious food. Breakthroughs, such as biofortification, can aid the country’s mission to combat and eliminate malnutrition and stunting, especially among children and the vulnerable. Of course, developing urgently needed vaccines and enhancing biosecurity measures are critical interventions to ensure the availability of adequate and safe-to-consume food commodities. 

As was rightfully identified under the Resolutions, the development and adoption of biotechnology, drone technology, artificial intelligence or AI, precision agriculture, and the Internet of Things will be vital to improving farm productivity and the efficiency of the whole supply chain. In a similar thread, we can deploy mobile and web-based platforms to facilitate product marketing, payment, and product delivery to end-consumers. On the part of the government, we are leveraging tools such as the Digital National ID to ensure that our feeding programs efficiently target the most vulnerable, thereby ensuring maximum impact for our interventions. 

More broadly, as I mentioned earlier, the government—through our laws, regulations, and strategic policies and programs—must create an enabling environment and implement responsive policy measures that promote food security through the following strategies: 

• First, infrastructure and investment-related policies and frameworks must enable the government and private sector to efficiently design and roll out infrastructure projects that will allow us to optimally manage and utilize land and water resources in support of sustainable food production; 

• Second, we must craft innovation governance mechanisms to capacitate and incentivize innovation actors as they generate, deploy, scale up, and promote the diffusion of game-changing technologies that can revolutionize the way we organize our food supply chains to deliver nutritious food to our people; 

• Third, the government must be able to harness trade and related policies when—with the aid of increasingly precise monitoring tools and technologies—we see that domestic production is disrupted or falls short of rising demand to ensure that food prices remain affordable and accessible, especially for the poor; and  

• Fourth, social policies and programs must shield the poor and vulnerable, including our small farmers, from various economic shocks. With the aid of digital technologies, we must employ effective targeting mechanisms that enable us to significantly improve health and nutrition outcomes among beneficiaries, even with our limited resources. 

Clearly, a common denominator runs through these imperatives: science, technology, and innovation will be essential. 

Thus, please allow me to express NEDA’s full support for the NAST’s Resolutions as we explore, moving forward, the many ways by which we can identify novel solutions to such complex problems and work together to achieve a food-secure Philippines. 

Thank you again for this distinct opportunity, and a good day to all. 

 

-END-