Herrin, Alejandro N.Camangon, Jaimee B.Tan, Pia Gracinia V.2025-02-212025-02-211999-03https://selib.upd.edu.ph/etdir/handle/123456789/4807The ability to provide food for one's family is every man's duty, but in a country like the Philippines it has become more of a struggle to do so. Recent food crises burdened the common folk with increased prices making them more hopeless to provide for three meals a day. This food insecurity scenario has prompted recent Philippine governments to liberalize trade so that food shortages may be avoided. With the loosening of protectionism on local products, it is now possible for foreign goods to mix freely in the market. Free trade advocates posit that the opening up of the Philippine market to the world is beneficial to the economy. Local producers will have access to international market Via trade with other nations. It will allow for improved quality and lower prides of goods given the competition that foreign products will bring. However, those who oppose trade liberalization worry about the food-producing sector that might get displaced by the influx of foreign products. They theorize that the presence of imported, higher-quality products in the local market could alter supply patterns if local farmers shift from producing traditional crops like rice and corn to producing higher-yielding cash crops like honeydew melon, tomato, or garlic, to name a few. this research aims to prove ·whether a · shift in production and a displacement of local· in favor of foreign products will indeed occur as a result of liberalized ·trade. Certain indicators of trade liberalization such as the costs and returns of traditional food products versus those of higher-yielding crops are analyzed in succeeding chapters. The paper also highlights the significance of food supply availability and the associated fluctuations in the inflation rate. There are data included on import-export quotas and tariff rates levied on these quotas. Thus, this paper has shown that the shift to higher-yielding cash crops and the displacement of farmers will happen only if small farmers are to be subsidized by the Philippine government. Recent findings have shown that shifting to other crops require high capital infusion that only subsidized farmers in industrialized countries can afford. But subsidized farming is practically non- existent in the Philippines. To become a veritable force in the international market, the Philippine economy must meet the high standards of its competitors. Safety nets in the domestic system must be imposed. Local producers must be provided with sufficient fiscal, monetary and legislative backing. These include developing technologies geared towards the production and strengthening of high-yielding varieties that are able to compete in the world market, intensive restructuring of policy such as anti-dumping laws that promote the welfare of local producers, and provision of more adequate subsidies to give production incentives to farmers. It should be stressed that many of the deficiencies in the sector are systemic and will require a long-time and sustained effort before these can impact positively on productivity and competitiveness.enTradeFood securityThesis