PNFSP joins IRRI Out Street Conference

The Philippine Network of Food Security Programmes attended a street conference in Los Ba ños Laguna on April 12 to call for the closure of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The conference brought together over 200 farmers, scientists, development workers and other support groups from all over the Philippines and Asia.

Farmers from Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and India continued to suffer along with their Filipino brethren from hunger, costly farm inputs and the lack of water.

Fifty years after IRRI started its rice research program that aimed at reducing hunger, it is clear that is has failed to do so. During the conference, farmers called for research on rice that focuses on and includes farmers. Only then can real progress be made in ensuring self-sufficiency in rice.

View the photos of the street conference.