FARMERS AND CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS urged the government to tap the East Asia Energy Rice Reserve (EAERR) to secure supply at stable prices.

In a statement, Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) said it had been pushing for the activation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) rice reserve mechanism since the height of the rice crisis in 2008. The group is lobbying for its inclusion in the agenda of the upcoming Asean Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry meeting in November.

?I think it is about time the Asean puts food security in the forefront in the light of the calamities and devastation that had befallen the region.

Indonesia recently got hit by a devastating earthquake about the same time as Tropical Storms ?Pepeng? and ?Ondoy? wrought havoc in the country,? said R1 lead convenor Jessica Reyes-Cantos.

The EAERR pilot project, which began in 2004, is meant to help rice-deficit and calamity-prone countries to have immediate access to rice when there is calamity.

This is the same rice reserve that the Philippines had planned to tap at the height of the global rice crisis in 2008.

Under the EAERR scheme, Asian countries have pledged certain volumes of rice that may be tapped by other Asian countries in case of emergency.