Why national food security efforts fail

WHY are the government’s policy prescriptions aimed at guaranteeing food security for Filipinos either wrong or absolutely wrong? Raul Montemayor, who delivered the 2022 JV Ongpin Memorial Lecture in Business and Government at the Ateneo Professional Schools on Friday, October 21, was straightforward on the why. Farmers, the main cogs, the principal players, in that effort have always been left out in the determination of those policy approaches. Historically, the policies enacted, codified and implemented have all missed out the farmer-centric, farmer-focused policy imperatives that should drive and undergird successful food-security programs. Instead of vesting farmers with the production wherewithal…