Cordillera among the hungriest regions

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TUBA, Benguet (Feb. 7) — The Cordillera is among the hungriest regions in the country as revealed in government statistical reports placing five of six provinces in the priority for hunger mitigation programs since 2006.

Mountain Province, regarded as among 10 on subsistence farming, is the only Cordillera province in the list of Priority 1 provinces, which includes eight Mindanao provinces, Camarines Norte, Masbate and all cities and towns in the National Capital Region. Abra and Kalinga are Priority 2 provinces for having been listed among the “poorest provinces” while Apayao and Ifugao are among those which previously received assistance along hunger mitigation.

In northern Luzon, Cordillera may be considered the hungriest, since no other province north of Manila was listed in the priority provinces for hunger mitigation, according to Dr. Micaela Defiesta, National Nutrition Council (NNC)regional director said during a media forum at the Palm Grove Resort here.

As such, all government efforts at reducing the incidence of hunger and malnutrition are focused in the priority Cordillera provinces with population management programs including even Benguet and the urban Baguio City populations.

Why Filipino go hungry

According to NNC reports, hunger among Filipinos is largely due to poverty, food insufficiency and large family size.

“There is a need to put money in people’s pocket, promote good nutrition and manage population levels,” Defiesta said. She also underscored the production of more food and its efficient delivery to people and places these are needed most.

Agriculture and education department representatives agreed with Defiesta, saying malnutrition among school children is prevalent in the remotest barangays in the country, where subsistence agriculture prevail, and where family sizes are bigger.

The National Statistics Coordination Board compilation based on the 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey showed that among food-poor population hunger is directly related to the family size.

Mitigating hunger through schools

Even the National Food Authority (NFA) vans could not reach schools to deliver rice for the Food for Schools Program (FSP) of the DepEd, according to Michelle Andaya, a member of the Anti Hunger Mitigation Task Force in the Cordillera. Through the FSP, the government gives a daily ration of one kilo rice to each pupil in public elementary schools for 120 days.

“It is like shooting two birds with one bullet,” Andaya said, because aside from checking on hunger, the program also aims to get a 100 percent attendance. She said the ration serves as an incentive for parents to send children to school.

Reports show that in some Cordillera provinces, school-aged children do not go to school. Instead, they are asked to tend to the farms or the beast of burden, if not busy with house chores.

Improving trend

Almost two years into the implementation of the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program, the prevalence of underweight preschool children in the Cordillera has decreased from 8.96% in 2006 to 8.09% in 2007.

Mountain Province decreased from 9.53% to 7.68%; Abra: from 16.38 to 15.68; Kalinga: from 11.28 to 9.37; Ifugao from 7.42% to 6.57% and Apayao, with the highest prevalence of undernourished children decreased from 17.81% to 16.28%. Benguet has the lowest and also decreased from 4.3% to 3.72%.

Baguio City, however showed an increase from 5.29% to 8.42%.

Among school children, the same slight decrease registered from 11.95% for school year 2006-2007 to 11.64% for 2007-2008. All provinces registered a decrease in the prevalence of malnutrition. Baguio City also showed an increase from 7.65% to 9.06% in the same testing periods.

The tests were done by the DOH Operation Timbang.

The hunger mitigation task force in the region also considered the delivery of fish to remote areas, the introduction of alternative backyard vegetable gardens and the dispersal of farm chickens, aside from the rice rationing in schools, the comprehensive couple classes for efficient home and family management, according to Population Commission chief Aurora Quiray.

The eradication of poverty hunger is the first of eight Millenium development Goals for 2015 of the United Nations. Also in the MDG are universal primary education; gender equality and women empowerment; reduction of child mortality; improving maternal health; elimination of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; environmental sustainability and global partnership for development.

World leaders agreed to reduce by half the number of world population living on less than US$1 (P41) a day. They also want to reduce by half the number of people who suffer from hunger. In the Philippines, the National Economic Development Authority places the poverty threshold at around P39 a day. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS