Dar: Fight vs hunger far from over
“THE fight against hunger is not yet over.”
This was stressed by Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar as he challenged the officials of the “OneDA Family” to be prime movers in assuring stability for the next administration.
“The fight against hunger will not end with our term. Thus, I challenge you to continue your respective tasks in feeding the Filipino people. A hungry populace is an angry populace. Let us not allow our countrymen to be HANGRY,” he told top officials of the OneDA Family.
With all the ongoing challenges posing threat to food stability and security, Dar ordered the Regional Executive Directors (REDs) to keep a close eye on the prices and supply of food in the markets.
He urged the regional chiefs and other field operating units to regularly monitor the inventories of food items in the markets and make sure that prices are fair.
“Produce more, when prices start going up. The more supply, the more affordable they are,” Dar pointed out.
He further directed the REDs to collaborate with the local government units (LGUs) under the guidelines of the Provincial Agricultural and Fisheries Extension Systems (PAFES), not leaving all the frontline services in the hands of the local chief executives alone.
Dar added that the DA must not be contented standing on the sidelines, but rather take part in the initiatives towards the development of agriculture and fisheries at the grassroots.
While Philippine agriculture continues to receive a beating from the health and energy crisis caused by COVID-19, the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, respectively, Dar emphasized that food security and energy measures must go hand in hand.
As such, he called for the fast-tracking of interventions to cushion the impact of the spiking price of petrol and immediately roll out assistance to farmers and fishers.
