Food is a topmost national concern

We join the global call for collective action to build a food-secure and sustainable future as the world marks World Food Day on Oct. 16.

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This year's theme, “Hand in hand for better foods and a better future,” carries a message that resonates deeply with the Philippines — a country blessed with fertile land, rich seas, and resilient farmers, yet still confronting hunger, malnutrition, and the impacts of climate change.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the lead agency in the commemoration, reminds us that agrifood systems are under mounting pressure from extreme weather, conflicts, economic shocks, and inequality. Globally, an estimated 673 million people still suffer from hunger, even as food waste and obesity rise elsewhere.

In the Philippines, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from June 25 to 29, published in August, found that 16.1 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger, defined as going hungry with nothing to eat, at least once in the past three months.