How can innovation and public investment help build a more food-secure Philippines?
In line with the Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2026 World Food Day theme, “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow,” the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) will hold a webinar on October 20, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM via Zoom. The event will feature two PIDS studies examining the role of technology transfer, public research and development (R&D), and government spending in strengthening food security in the Philippines.
The first study, “How Successful Was the Philippine Technology Transfer Act in Commercializing Publicly Funded R&D? The Case of Agrifood System Innovations,” by PIDS Senior Research Fellow Roehlano Briones and Project Technical Assistant Helena Luz Pastolero, assesses the commercialization of publicly funded R&D in the agrifood sector. The study finds that earnings from technology transfer have been limited, while research and development institutions face challenges in securing intellectual property rights, completing product development, and obtaining fairness opinion reports. It also identifies low commercial potential of research and development products, fragmented information systems, high business costs, and limited institutional capacity as key challenges to technology commercialization.
The second study, “Food Security Sectoral Analysis: Strengthening Access to Safe and Nutritious Food for Every Filipino,” also authored by Briones and PIDS Supervising Research Specialist Agnes Kristine Quilinguing, examines public spending on food security-related programs across four dimensions: availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability. The study finds significant progress in food availability and accessibility but persistent gaps in utilization, stability, and equity. It also identifies challenges in addressing underlying problems in the agrifood system, as well as inefficiencies in social protection and nutrition programs associated with large-scale implementation and decentralization.
Join policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to discuss how innovation, public investment, and policy reforms can strengthen the Philippines’ agrifood system and improve food security outcomes.
Interested participants may register at https://bit.ly/pidsevent102026.
The event will also be livestreamed on the PIDS and SERP-P Facebook pages.
Read the full studies at https://doi.org/10.62986/dp2026.14 and https://doi.org/10.62986/dp2026.15.
