Hunger in the Philippines ‘serious’—global report

THE incidence of hunger in the Philippines is “serious,” according to an international global hunger survey.

In a report titled, “The Challenge of Hunger: Focus on Financial Crisis and Gender Inequality,” the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has ranked the Philippines 34th on a scale of 0 to 100 among 84 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI).

A Social Weather Station earlier reported that 20.3 percent of Filipino families, or 3.7 million families, experienced involuntary hunger in the second quarter of the year. In the previous quarter, an estimated of 2.9 million families were experienced hunger.

The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with zero being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst.

The 2009 GHI incorporates data only until 2007, the most recently available, and therefore does not fully reflect the impact of recent increases in food and energy prices or the economic downturn.

Countries that scored less than 4.9 reflect low hunger, values between five and 9.9 reflect moderate hunger, values between 10 and 19.9 indicate a serious problem, values between 20 and 29.9 are alarming, and values of 30 or higher are extremely alarming.

The IFPRI report has tagged the hunger situation in the Philippines as “serious.”

The hunger index score is based on the various available data including the proportion of undernourished in the population, prevalence of underweight in children under five years, and under-five mortality rate.

From 2003 to 2005, about 16 percent of Filipinos were undernourished; 20.7 percent of children were underweight in 2002 to 2007, and the under-five mortality rate was at 2.8 percent in 2007.
Palace reaction

While the government has admitted that addressing the hunger situation in the country is being hampered by the recent calamities, it is pinning its hope on the P300-billion Economic Resiliency Plan that is funding the feeding and livelihood programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Secretary Domingo Panganiban, head of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), also cited the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program as one of the major tools of the government to ease hunger incidence in the country.

He said further that government-lending institutions are extending loans to small entrepreneurs to fight poverty, a gargantuan task given the recent devastation brought about by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

Panganiban said the areas with high poverty and hunger incidence will suffer even more because of the recent calamities.

Although considering the Philippine hunger condition as serious, the IFPRI report cited the country’s significant improvement from 1990 as compared to 2009, based on 2007 data.

“Although the poor and the hungry are, in general, hurt the most by the food and financial crises, the exact impacts at the household level differ widely. Policy responses to the food and financial crises must take these different impacts into account,” the report said.

Besides the Philippines, countries having “serious” hunger problems are Ghana, Vietman, Botswana, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Indonesia, Uganda and Congo. Countries with extremely alarming hunger situation are Congo, Burundi, Sierra Leopne, Chad and Ethiopia.

“Poor people are now exposed to additional stress stemming from the financial crisis as real wages and household incomes decline, jobs are lost, credit is cut, and remittances dwindle,” the report said.

The report added that the global recession has also increased uncertainty about the levels of future aid and funds for social protection, which are essential for avoiding hunger and starvation among the most
vulnerable.

IFPRI is a global organization supported by governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations, aiming to reduce hunger and poverty. –Darwin G. Amojelar,Senior Reporter and Angelo Samonte, Reporter, Manila Times