Malnutrition, under-nutrition and hunger have remained serious problems in the country. In children, the impairment to health, physical growth and brain development impinged by chronic under-nutrition/malnutrition is oftentimes permanent, impairing them for life or leaving them with lower chances of finishing school and becoming productive adults.
In the January 2016 forum convened by the National Nutrition Council, Department of Health, and UNICEF Philippines, Dr. Lawrence Haddad, renowned international expert in nutrition and lead author of the 2015 Global Nutrition Report said that the Philippines is slow in reducing malnutrition. He went on to say that if the Philippines want to succeed in its effort to attain the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 together with its World Health Assembly 2025 Global Targets, the country has to end all forms of malnutrition by scaling up proven nutrition interventions and by committing and investing in nutrition as well as holding nutrition stakeholders accountable. Haddad pointed out that “ending malnutrition will drive sustainable development forward.”
The ICFP
Unfortunately, up to now, many are still classified as food, nutrition, and income-deficient. This condition is aggravated by climate change which led to unpredictable weather conditions, increase in planet temperature, decrease in yields, and the onslaught of natural calamities like typhoons, floods and drought which continuously swarm Filipinos with adverse impacts making most of the country’s residents helpless and despondent.
The National Anti-Poverty Commission, being the lead agency for poverty reduction, takes the stride in implementing the Integrated Community Food Production program as a strategic and sustainable hunger mitigation endeavor. The commission sees ICFP as one of the strongest and most viable responses of the government towards hunger and malnutrition as per food data survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2014.
ICFP aims to eliminate hunger among poor families, reduce the incidence of malnutrition, and increase family income. It empowers the people to produce their food requirements within their own homes through fruit, vegetable and root crop gardening, small poultry and livestock raising.
In Dumaguete City, especially at the outset of 2015, 15 percent were found to be hungry and food malnourished among the 85 percent of the poorest of the poor households alone. As designed, the ICFP program for Dumaguete will attempt to address the issue on hunger and malnutrition as well as provide additional source of income to identified poor households. It will expand the food base and promote a sustainable food production and consumption system in food and nutrition-deficient households or communities. The program will enable poor people to produce carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein-rich foods around their homes.
In addition, the ICFP program will provide initial nutritious food to beneficiaries in a period of two to three months and a sustainable food supply in a period of one year. ICFP beneficiaries will be trained on how to sustain the project even after termination of the requested program funding.
Dumaguete, through the Office of the City Agriculturist, will soon implement the P2 million worth of Integrated Community Food Production program after its Project Proposal and Work and Financial Plan was approved by the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
NAPC tasks the Office of the City Agriculturist to implement the program in the City that will benefit 200 nutrition-deficient households in eight barangays: Tinago, Bagacay, Junob, Talay, Cadawinonan, Candau-ay, Batinguel, and Camanjac.
To this effect, OCA will collaborate with civil society organizations, the City Nutrition Office, and the City Social Welfare and Development Office in identifying the beneficiaries of the program with a set of eligibility criteria: Nutrition deficient as identified by the City Nutrition Office (30%), economically marginalized (20%), having an area for planting or raising livestock animals (2%), and willing or interested to plant crops or raise livestock animals (20%).
The program will not only help poor people but will also fast-track the attainment of the City’s development goals in 1) reducing poverty by generating sustainable food for the poor, 2) addressing gender concerns since women will equally play an active role in producing food and providing income for the family, 3) promoting education through massive training and capacity building sessions, and 4) protecting the environment by planting fruit trees and other crops that serve as carbon sink, and by producing and using organic inputs, thereby eliminating the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers which are the source of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas.
The ICFP program has different components:
A food and nutrition survey at the beginning and end of the project to assess project impact.
Backyard gardening in every home where beneficiaries can readily get their food within the proximity of their houses, without going elsewhere. Beneficiaries will be provided with good quality seeds from reliable sources and accredited seeds distributors in the locality for easy access in time of planting. Households will be required to look for different indigenous vegetable varieties prior to the acceptance of viable seeds to ensure compliance with the requirements prior to the start of the project.
Fruit trees in every home. Each household will be provided with grafted cacao, lanzones, rambutan, and other appropriate seedlings.
Production and use of organic fertilizers in every home to be able to produce high yields of healthy food crops and contribute to the protection of the environment. Organic fertilizer production such as vermin compost production and the production of natural farming inputs for use in giving plants their needed nutrients throughout the growing period. Each household will be provided with at least one kilo African Night Crawler earthworms for culture and composting production.
Raising of native chickens, ducks, and goats in every home as cheap protein source, and additional family income. Beneficiaries, especially those with enough area for the rearing of livestock animals, will be given a number of native chicken, ducks, and goat. These animals shall only be given after the beneficiaries have completed the tasks of establishing their gardens and crops have already been planted.
With the ICFP program, poor families are ensured of accessible sources of food, especially in times of calamities, as well as additional source of family income.
In its entirety, the ICFP program serves as home farms for the beneficiaries because aside from vegetables and fruits, there is also a component for livestock and poultry. The main thrust of which is to encourage poor families to help themselves.
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Author’s email: wea_129@yahoo.com
