As the world celebrated Chocolate Day last July 7, the industry itself, like other consumer products was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, because of restrictions on the supply chain after most of the countries resorted to lockdowns. In the Philippines, local producers were forced to stop or limit processing of cacao products after the declaration […]
Ma. Aurora “Rory” Tolentino was elected as the new Vice Chair of the PEF Board during the 86th board meeting on July 23, 2020. She will be filling the vacancy left by Carmencita “Carn” T. Abella until March 2022. Ms. Tolentino was reelected as part of the Board in March 2019. She first served in […]
As an agricultural country, the Philippines is known for its rice production, which according to the 2018 data by Philippines Statistics Authority, has the highest allocation of farmland with 4.8 million hectares. Another well-known crop in the country is corn, which has the second highest allocation of farmland with 2.51 million hectares. Rice and corn […]
Cotabato City – As the ‘new normal’ looms after the lifting of community quarantines throughout the country, a group of advocates are pushing for backyard farming for sustainable food security and self-sufficiency. In March, Nasrudin “Naz” Buisan, an agriculturist from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) founded TipidTanim Challenge to encourage families to […]
After two months of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), hunger took its toll on the lives of the sugarcane farmers in Negros Occidental. In La Castellana and Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, farmers who are in the middle of their cropping season have been disrupted by the lockdown, with some already planting sugar canes in time for the […]
While the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, a sector in the rural frontlines are silently working to ensure that food will always be on every Filipino families’ table: our farmers and fisherfolks. On May 25, the Department of Agriculture formally declared the national observance of Farmers and Fisherfolks Month to pay tribute to the […]
With the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, most businesses have to suspend their operations, or their employees have to work remotely at home. The restrictions also forced many to go digital in their everyday lives: from working, to paying bills and buying necessities. It is no wonder that web stores and […]
According to the World Bank, the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic can push 49 million people into extreme poverty by 2020. (https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/covid-19-will-hit-poor-hardest-heres-what-we-can-do-about-it) In the Philippines, poor households struggle to find food on their table each day. What more if a pandemic is halting people from working? Such is the plight of the urban poor, most of […]
Asipulo, Ifugao – While the whole of Luzon remains under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) because of the coronavirus pandemic, the economic activities of the people are still limited: most businesses are closed, and public transportation continue to be suspended. In the rural areas, supply of essential goods such as food can be in danger of […]