About one-fifth (21.9%) of the Philippine population in 2015 was considered food poor, living below the poverty line. A family of five needed at least PHP 6,329.00 monthly income to meet basic food requirements, but 5.7 percent of Filipino families were unable to meet the threshold. While food poverty is a by-product of other social problems such as increasing population, a country like the Philippines whose current population stands at 1.3 billion and annually growing by 1.6 percent will find that food security will be continually challenged.
Other crucial issues impacting on food security are low agricultural productivity and environmental problems, primarily brought about by climate change.
