Nutrition council wants no more hunger by 2010

CEBU, Philippines - The National Nutrition Council, through its Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program, targets to decrease, if not eradicate, hunger incidents in the country in four core functions by 2010.

Susan Orpilla, nutrition officer 3 of the NNC, said that the said four core functions are namely: increase food production, enhance efficiency of logistics and food delivery, promote good nutrition and manage population.

Orpilla, yesterday’s guest speaker of the weekly Association of Government Information Officers-7 forum, said that the AHMP is in line with President Gloria Arroyo’s project in reducing poverty.

Orpilla said Arroyo signed the Executive Order 616 last April 2007 tasking the NNC to lead the Anti-Hunger Task Force from the national level down to the regional level to address the problem on hunger.

The AHMP framework is comprised of hunger mitigation measures that are divided into two categories: the supply side and the demand side where the said four core functions belong.

Under increase food production measure of the supply side, the task force currently implements productivity programs including livestock, crops, marine regeneration, farm family and irrigation.

In enhancing efficiency of logistics and food delivery, the unit came up and currently works on Barangay Food Terminal and Tindahan Natin, ports, farm to market roads, efficient local transport, Food for School Program, creation of NGO network to support feeding programs, and community tradable rice certificates.

In promoting good nutrition under the demand side, the unit conducts social marketing, promotes exclusive breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, and increased consumption of vegetables, and nutrition education in schools.

The task force, under population management, also holds series of trainings and forums in every barangay about responsible parenthood.

An additional measure under the demand side includes putting more money in poor people’s pockets by improving productivity in coconut areas, more aggressive micro-financing, maximize employment opportunities in construction and maintenance of farm-to-market roads, irrigation and roadside maintenance, aggressive training, and upland land distribution.

Orpilla said there are 24 agencies helping the NNC in realizing these hunger mitigation measures.

“We have to solve malnutrition first in order to solve poverty,” she emphasized.

Orpilla disclosed that in Visayas, the regional anti-hunger task force places the province of Negros as their priority area 2 and Bohol as priority area 3. Priority area 1 is an area in Mindanao, she said.

She disclosed that in their quarterly SWS survey, the hunger incidence in Visayas region increased to 21 percent from 19.7 percent, which means that currently, there are around 775,000 families suffering from hunger.

The second quarter survey further shows that Mindanao has the highest percent of hunger incidence as from 11 percent to 30 percent, or now 1.3 million families, are hungry. The hungry families in the National Capital Region, on the other hand, from 17.3 percent increased to P22.3 percent or equivalent to 550,000 families.

Overall, Orpilla said, there are 3.7 million families in the country suffering from hunger which prompted the government, despite uncontrollable situations, to secure the public as every person “has the right for adequate food.”

The government official said that uncontrollable and unanticipated natural calamities, like the recent typhoon Ondoy will affect the survey.

With the wrath of Ondoy, she said, the hunger incidence in the NCR is expected to increase by the next quarter but they are always hopeful that through the efforts of the government, the problem is well-addressed.

The NNC, she said, commits to improve the situation of the country by 2010, if not to totally eradicate the problem on hunger. – Niña G. Sumacot/BRP   (FREEMAN NEWS)