DAVAO CITY, Philippines - Criticizing the failure of industrial and chemical-based agriculture to address poverty and hunger in Mindanao, organic farming advocates said that the success on food security program lies on organic agriculture.

This is the position of Go Organic! Mindanao, a coalition of non-government organizations working for environmentally-sound agriculture in Mindanao during their recent rice forum in the city.

Nena Morales, co-convenor of the coalition, said that one best option of the government to alleviate food crisis is to prioritize production of organically-grown food.

This is a response to the Davao City Council that vowed to help the city government in addressing food shortage by forming policies to encourage local farmers to plant rice. This includes would include incentives such as farm inputs and technical assistance in terms of processing and marketing.

While Go Organic! hails this attempt of the local government, they said that the success of the program to really curb hunger will depend on its sustainability, which it said can only be assured by organic farming based on best practices of farmers on the field.

“Organic farming has been proven as an effective approach which the United Nations (UN) recognized in their report on world hunger and poverty, said Tom Villarin, co-convenor of the coalition.

The UN-organized International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) reported the failure of industrial farming to address world hunger and poverty.

The IAASTD recommended to world governments to stop the use of genetically-modified (GM) food and end import-dependency of agriculture.

Source