Secretary William Dar and the Department of Agriculture’s team of experts and consultants met on December 4, 2019 to identify targets and develop plans for the future of the Philippine rice industry.

The group discussed measures on how to elevate the country’s rice sufficiency level through various programs, including initiatives under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Southeast Asia Regional Program Leader Dr. Leocadio Sebastian, who joined other experts in the meeting, said that the targets would dictate how rice lands will be used in the future.

The meeting centered on how to improve the rice sufficiency level and double the income of farmers in five years by maximizing the RCEF and mainstreaming climate change adaptation measures in DA programs at the regional and local government unit levels.

Secretary Dar said that he would like to not only mainstream but also to institutionalize the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA), which is a flagship program of the DA for climate adaptation and mitigation. The program is currently coordinated and managed by the department’s Systems-Wide Climate Change Office (SWCCO).

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, major challenges that affect the future of food and agriculture include 1) population growth, urbanization, and ageing, 2) increasing competition for natural resources and land degradation, and 3) natural disasters and climate change. ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)