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July 8, 2010
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Philippine rising demand calls for higher grain production
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The Philippines needs to increase its grain production by at least 1.8% every year for the next 20 years in order to meet the needs of a growing population, according to UN's FAO.
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Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO assistant director general and regional representative for Asia and the Pacific, said food production will need to double or post a 100% increase by 2050 to feed the Philippines' growing population.
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According to Konuma, wheat production in Asia and the Pacific region had only grown by 0.2% for the past 10 years. "We need to increase at least 1.8% per year, for grain production, in the next 20 years. [This is the] average in Asia and the Pacific region," he clarified.
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With an expected increase in world population to 9.1 billion by 2050, FAO said that the world also needs to increase food production by around 70% by 2050. Konuma said the world must increase investments in agriculture to over US$200 billion every year until 2050. Of this amount, around US$120 billion every year is needed for Asia and the Pacific.
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Investments in the farm sector in Asia and the Pacific had averaged US$80 billion every year for the past three years. To meet the US$120-billion annual investment, he said investments in the farm sector in the region must rise by 50%.
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To bring down food prices, it is also important to increase investments. Asian Development Bank (ADB) president, Haruhiko Kuroda, cited FAO figures showing that while food prices have stabilised, they were still 85% higher than 2003 levels. The figures also showed that food prices will remain high for the next 10 years.
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Konuma said that the increased investments should go to research and development and agriculture infrastructure, like irrigation facilities, farm-to-market roads, postharvest facilities and other associated infrastructure.
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Investments must be geared, as well, toward financing agriculture insurance, marketing chain facilitation, and other agriculture support services. Other investments should be in health care, education and other known agriculture income-generating activities.
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"Achieving food security at regional, national and household levels has long been a struggle for the region, even during the best of economic times. A sustainable and balanced rebound in Asia, coupled with the hard lessons we learned during the 2008 food crisis, presents us with a golden opportunity to harness our collective resources in order to achieve food security," Kuroda added.
