A National Land Use Act (NLUA) is a critical tool needed to ensure the country’s food security.
This was underscored by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who in a Facebook open forum during the weekend discussed the importance of such a measure and reiterated the Administration’s support for its passage.
“When we talk about food production, food availability, food price stability, and helping small farmers, land is important.”
Nograles, who heads the government’s Zero Hunger Task Force, pointed out that “when we talk about food production, food availability, food price stability, and helping small farmers, land is important.”
“When unregulated and unrestricted land conversion happens, food security is threatened.”
According to Nograles, the government recognizes that the unchecked conversion of agricultural lands could adversely impact the agricultural sector, and, as a consequence, threaten Philippine food security. This, explained the Palace official, is why President Rodrigo Duterte has called on Congress to pass the NLUA.
At the beginning of the 18th Congress last year, President Rodrigo Duterte in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) included the NLUA among his administration’s priority legislative measures
The National Economic and Development Authority at the same time reiterated that a NLUA would ensure the rational and the sustainable use of the country’s land and physical resources, as well as harmonize sector-specific land use policies and institutionalize land use planning.
“When unregulated and unrestricted land conversion happens, food security is threatened.”
“A National Land Use law can ensure that agricultural lands are not converted, as it will allow us to identify land that will be used for agricultural purposes,” stressed Nograles in Filipino.
The Zero Hunger Task Force (ZHTF) recently launched the country’s National Food Policy (NFP) on World Food Day, which was commemorated last Friday.
The NFP is a long-term, cohesive strategy that involves initiatives for ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Tasked with spearheading the implementation of the NFP, the ZHTF is mandated to review existing laws, regulations, and rules relative to food security, and to recommend measures to improve these.