Food security is not merely an economic concern for Negros Occidental—it is a moral, social, and historical imperative.
The world was once jolted by the stark reality of hunger in our province when Time Magazine published the haunting photograph of a severely malnourished Negrense child. That single image pierced the global conscience and became a powerful symbol of neglect, deprivation, and human vulnerability.
It exposed to the world how fragile the lives of our people had become and how deeply rooted our structural problems were. For Negros, it was a painful moment of reckoning.
This tragedy did not occur in isolation. It came in the aftermath of the termination of the Laurel-Langley Agreement, which for years granted preferential treatment to Philippine sugar exports to the United States.
While the LLA initially benefited large plantations and entrenched the sugar industry, it also deepened a dangerous monocrop dependency.
Negros became overly reliant on sugar, leaving farm workers and small farmers with little to no alternatives for livelihood and food.
Economic growth for a few masked vulnerability for the many.
When sugar prices collapsed and employment vanished, families had nothing to fall back on—no diversified crops, no safety nets, no buffer systems. The result was devastating: a full-blown sugar crisis that plunged the province into famine and suffering.
Thousands of sacadas and their families faced hunger, malnutrition and despair. Children dropped out of school, health deteriorated and entire communities were pushed to the brink.
Negros was no longer just an agricultural province: it had become a global symbol of what happens when economic policy ignores human welfare and when development is built on a narrow and fragile foundation.
The international community responded. Aid flowed in, both in cash and in kind. The United Nations Development Programme and the World Food Programme launched the Food-for-Work project, designed not only to relieve hunger but to build productive, self-sustaining assets.
I was privileged to serve as national consultant on agriculture and agroforestry, tasked to prepare a manual that focused on estimating work-food equivalents for integrated farming systems, postharvest practices, bio-intensive gardening, artificial reef development, Integrated Social Forestry, and province-wide training of farmers and agricultural technicians.
The message was clear and urgent: food security is achievable, even amid severe constraints, if there is political will, sound planning, and community commitment.
Decades later, that lesson remains painfully relevant. Extreme weather aberration and events, market volatility, population growth, and land conversion continue to threaten our food systems.
Negros Occidental cannot afford to be remembered again as a symbol of hunger. Food security must be a top priority—through crop diversification, sustainable fisheries, backyard and community gardens, strong postharvest systems, and robust extension services.
It must be treated not as a side program, but as a core pillar of development.
We owe it to our history, our farmers, and our children to ensure that no Negrense will ever again become the face of hunger on the world stage. | NWI
