In February 2015, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Dr. Hilal Elver, visited the Philippines and met with government agencies as well as civil society organizations and social movement groups representing the marginalized sectors of the country. This report documents the meeting between her and these organizations during which the latter presented a 9-point agenda for the fulfillment of the right to food. The report uses human rights-based approach in analyzing the state of hunger in the Philippines and how such situation impacts the obligation of our government to respect, protect, and promote the right to life of its own people. Views from below and real life experiences helped give context to these issues tackled in the meeting: (a) the current state of agriculture and small producers; (b) agrarian reform and its impacts to addressing hunger; (c) food security threats for Indigenous People; (d) women and the right to food; (e) urban food security and the informal economy; and (f) the impacts of mining and the climate crisis to food security. The report lays down recommendations for structural reforms and proposes immediate steps.
