Philippines gets P12-M Korean grant for food security system

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has received a P12-million grant from the Korean government to establish an agricultural information system to address food security issues in the country and in the Asean region in the long-run.

Through the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), collection and management of palay (unhushed race)and corn data will be made available online and via mobile applications to ensure accurate and accessible information.

“We will have the agricultural statistical information that we need in real time. We will have the timely and relevant statistics for palay and corn stocks as well as the prices since it always changes,” PSA Legal Services Division chief officer-in-charge Maribeth Pilimpinas said. 

The National Agricultural Information System (NAIS) will be an intranet system of agricultural statistics information that can be shared to the public and is aimed at contributing to food security enhancement in the Philippines. 

Furthermore, the PSA is in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Food Authority (NFA) in data gathering and processing. 

Pilimpinas said the system utilization is targeted early next year as training and workshops have already been conducted in various provinces through the initiative of the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and the Korea Agency of Education, Promotion and Information Service (EPIS).

Meanwhile, another funding worth approximately P12 million as well will be provided by the Korean government in 2018 to connect the Philippine NAIS to the rest of the Asean region. 

The Real-Time Asean Food Security Information System (AFSIS) will collect and share food security information on-line by establishing and upgrading food security information system for the members of the Asean +3 (Korea, China and Japan).