As the Philippines grapples with its worst food crisis in years, many farmers in its cradle of rice cultivation are abandoning farming for more lucrative trades. Lambuyong Burnag, a 70-year old tribal farmer, now poses for tourists' pictures in his multi-coloured loincloth and plumed head-dress with the postcard-perfect Ifugao rice terraces in the northern Philippines as a scenic backdrop. Instead of cultivating his own rice on the small patch of land he inherited, he uses the payment he receives from tourists to buy cheap rice distributed by the government to poor communities. Even though rice prices are high at the moment, farmers' profits are low due to the high cost of fertiliser and the low prices farmers still receive for their crops from millers and other middlemen who often pocket most of the profits. Our children's children have other things in mind. They're no longer interested in farming because our rice paddies are not producing enough even for our own consumption. We still have to buy rice from the low lands.' More here.