The need for and possible uses of food aid in the Philippines

Abstract

In pursuing its own objectives of growth and redistribution for the agricultural sector, the Aquino administration faces the seemingly insurmountable constraints of an unexpandable land base in the context of high rates of farm tenancy and population growth, a foreign debt whose interest alone consumes nearly 40% of foreign exchange earnings, a fragile political and legal system, and a widely dispersed rural insurgency. This article outlines some possible uses for food aid to alleviate these constraints to some small degree.