Employees and officials of the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies are joined by FAO, WFP and UN officials in their pledge to respond to combat climate change.

MANILA – On the occasion of World Food Day, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) calls on countries to accelerate efforts that will enable agriculture and food systems to adapt to climate change. The Organization warns that inaction could result in millions of people more suffering from hunger and poverty by 2030.

“Climate change is one of the most complex challenges of our time but it is not without a solution. The agriculture sector in the Philippines is particularly at high risk, given the country’s geographic location,” said José Luis Fernández, FAO Representative in the Philippines.

World Food Day observance in the Philippines

Joining over 150 countries in commemorating World Food Day and shedding a spotlight on this crucial issue, officials and employees of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agencies renewed their pledge to respond to the evolving needs of the sector and those who depend on it for food security and livelihood.  

“We are urged to find practical and viable action plans towards food security and sufficiency amidst the looming effects of climate change. In recent years, our food producers have been gravely affected by extreme weather conditions and its erratic patterns. The DA has been proactively pushing for solutions and measures that seek to boost the resilience of Filipino farmers against weather extremes, including prolonged droughts and severe floods," said DA Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat who spoke on behalf of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol at a commemorative ceremony held at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

United Nations Resident Representative Ola Almgren who was also present at the event reiterated the UN’s commitment to supporting the Government in its efforts to combat climate change and in the overall development of the agriculture sector, which directly relate to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by UN member states.

“On this World Food Day, UN agencies in the Philippines are one with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in supporting the Government and its partners to take a holistic, collaborative and integrated approach to climate change, food security and equitable social and economic development. Agriculture and climate change adaptation figure prominently in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework for the Philippines,” Almgren said.

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, DA Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development Lerey Panes, Assistant Secretary Leandro Gazmin and UN World Food Programme Country Director ad interim Martin Bettelley were also present at the ceremonies.

Way forward

FAO has commended the Government for building a solid foundation for advancing its work on climate change adaption and disaster risk reduction.

In spite of being one of the most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines remains to be a leading example in building institutional capacities for managing and reducing risks to natural hazards and climate change. This was further solidified by the participation of the Philippine delegation led by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol at the Agriculture Ministers' Conference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Peru last September, where the Philippines was applauded for its presentation on world food supply amidst climate change.

Moving forward with its shared priorities, FAO and DA, along with other agencies, are currently working together to improve strategic climate risk management and to accelerate the uptake of risk reduction practices across the policy and industry level, down to farming and fishing communities. FAO and DA are also at the forefront of promoting climate-smart technologies in addition to investing in more efficient systems and technologies for data collection and analysis, evidenced-based planning and decision-making on food and nutrition security and disaster response.

“FAO is a proud partner of the DA in strengthening the resilience of the agriculture sector. We have been working together to enhance climate change adaptation since 2009. To this day, our commitment remains steadfast. World Food Day is a good opportunity to identify how we can further collaborate to transform food and agriculture systems so that farmers and fishers can produce more, using less resources, even under changing climate conditions,” Fernández said.