Government reformats NFA role

MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) will be converted into a regulatory body that will not interfere in the market, according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.

Piñol said this was discussed in several Cabinet meetings already.

“It is not really dismantling the NFA… If it does not function to stabilize the prices, then it should become a regulatory body. This is not to abolish it but to reformat,” Piñol said during a briefing in Malacañang yesterday.

Piñol said the idea was introduced by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. who explained that given NFA’s limited funds, it could only buy about five percent of the farmers’ produce. This limitation led to the agency’s failure to command the pricing of rice and corn in the market.

Piñol said private traders are buying palay (unmilled rice) at P12 to P14 per kilo while the NFA is buying at P17 per kilo. But because of the NFA’s limited funds, the traders are still able to control the market.

The NFA has already incurred P170 billion in losses.

“The problem with the Philippine grains industry is it is under the clutches of traders who control the price of palay and the selling price of rice in the market,” Piñol said.

He added that the government would provide several interventions including the facilitation of loans with the Landbank of the Philippines as well as the marketing of products directly from to corporations that wanted to buy directly from farmers.

As for the government’s drive for food sufficiency, Piñol said the DA would go back to its main focus of food production, noting that the agency strayed from this focus for several years.

He also cited the need for an executive order that would put a moratorium on the conversion of agricultural lands to industrial and residential purposes.

“The law is clear on this. You cannot convert agricultural lands for a housing subdivision or industrial use. We are very strict in evaluating application for land conversion to industrial,” he added.