On the culmination of the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Policy Partnership on Food Security (APEC-PPFS) Meeting in Iloilo City on October 3, 2015, the APEC member-economies agreed on food security policy statements for consideration during the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in November.
The policy declarations focused on four (4) priority areas, which the member-economies adopted such as Stock-take and Food Security Road Map Toward 2020, Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Fishery Sector, Facilitation on Investment and Infrastructure Development and, Enhancing Trade and Market. The delegates also finalized their food security projects and activities for this year.
“Food security has come to be one of the most urgent and important challenges confronting the world, especially us, APEC economies,” Presiding PPFS Chair and Philippine Undersecretary for Fisheries Asis G. Perez said during the meeting’s opening ceremonies.
In the Philippines, a predominantly agricultural country, food security and staple sufficiency has been the Aquino administration’s priority agenda for Agriculture sector since it started in 2010. This coincides with the APEC PPFS goal to attain a food system structure by year 2020, which is sufficient to provide lasting food security to APEC economies including the Philippines.
Perez, however, explained that food security goes beyond increased food production. He said it involves enhancing the competitiveness of the economies’ agriculture and fisheries and fair policies that promote sustainability and growth among the many stakeholders particularly small holders such as women, farmers and fishermen.
Among the salient matters discussed during the meeting is the reinforcement of private sector’s participation particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is included in the PPFS 2015 Work Plan.
The Philippine government for its part has been incessantly working on effectively bridging public-private partnerships, most notably on agriculture and fisheries sectors where entrepreneurs who wish to engage on agriculture or fisheries are provided with necessary assistance and support.
The APEC 2015 PPFS Meeting was hosted by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Department of Agriculture (DA-BFAR). (DA-BFAR-IPRG)
