The Philippines is grappling with a severe food insecurity crisis, leaving millions struggling to put food on the table. Poverty, climate change and economic instability are driving the issue, which is worsening by the day.
A recent survey conducted by Social Weather Stations and Stratbase from March 15 to 20 found that 27.2% of households, approximately 7.5 million families, experienced involuntary hunger. This marks the highest rate since September 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19, when hunger hit 30.7%. The current rate is also 7% higher than the 2024 annual average of 20.2%.
Chronic crisis: food insecurity and malnutrition
According to the 2023 report of the Food and Agriculture Organization, 44.7% of the Philippines’ population faced moderate or severe food insecurity between 2021-2023, the highest rate in Southeast Asia. Malnutrition continues to take a toll with 29% of children suffering from stunted growth.
Another survey conducted in the Philippines in 2024 highlighted that 54% of respondents cited soaring food prices as the primary driver of food insecurity, followed by a lack of agricultural investment.
Food security emergency
In response to persistently high rice prices, the country declared a food security emergency in February this year. Despite lowering tariffs on imported rice last year, retail prices keep on rising, ranging from US$0.70 to US$1.40 per kilo, a trend which the Department of Agriculture described as “extraordinary”.
Although the government relaxed import rules and lowered tariffs, the local rice market failed to pick up as expected. Retail prices have ended up higher than anticipated. Inflation in rice prices surged to 24.4%, a 15-year high.
Longstanding struggle
The Philippines struggled with food insecurity before the 2025 crisis. In 2018, 16.6% of the population lived below the poverty line, with many poor communities residing in disaster-prone areas. From 2017 to 2019, the country had the highest number of food insecure people in Southeast Asia, with 59 million Filipinos affected, up from 44.9 million in 2014-2016. The combination of growing population, limited resources, and natural disasters has deepened poverty and hunger.
The Philippines experienced a 2.60% rise in food costs in February 2025 compared to the previous year. Since 1995, the country’s food inflation has averaged 4.84%, with a record high of 17.30% and a low of –0.90 % in September 2019.
Poverty, economic slowdown and political instability
Poverty remains one of the most significant contributors to food insecurity, stripping millions of their ability to access essential nutrition. In 2024, economic growth slowed to 5.6%. In addition, the unemployment rate stood at 4.3% as of January 2025, reducing household purchasing power and forcing households to cut back on food quantity and quality.
This situation is further complicated by political instability, which threatens the availability and accessibility of nutritious food.
Climate change compounds food crisis
The Phillipines was on track to become an upper-middle-income country due to sustained economic growth from 2010 to 2019. However, its progress was hindered by climate-related disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, and conflict.
Currently, the country ranks as the world’s third most vulnerable to climate change. With 60% of its land area and 74% of its population at risk, the country is further prone to crop damage, loss of livelihoods, and consequently disrupted food systems.
Despite repeated calls for measures to counteract climate change effects, natural disasters kept on intensifying. Unpredictable weather patterns and extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, damage crops and reduce yields, ultimately compromising the country’s food security and leaving millions without access to essential nutrition.
