Food poverty reduction by 2015 possible

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that the food poverty reduction target under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 is still achievable. In a statement, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga Jr. said that the country has a high probability of meeting
most of the MDG targets, including reducing the number of Filipinos below subsistence threshold, or those whose income cannot provide the basic food requirements.

Paderanga’s statement came after a statement made by the chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development that the government’s target to reduce the poverty by half is “unrealistic.”

”I assure you we will not get there,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman earlier said.

Citing data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), Paderanga said that from 24.3 percent in 1991, the percentage of Filipinos living below subsistence threshold was reduced to 14.6 percent in 2006, which is near the 2015 target set by the MDG of 12.15 percent.

But if the total poverty incidence of the population is considered, which includes poverty on food and nonfood necessities like clothing and shelter, the likelihood of achieving the 2015 target of 22.65 percent is medium, the NSCB report said.

In 2006, the percentage of Filipinos living under the poverty threshold was 32.9 percent.

Paderanga said that the country also has high probabilities of meeting the MDG targets on reducing child mortality, promoting gender equality and empowerment of women, particularly on eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education, reversing the incidence of malaria and tuberculosis, and providing access to sanitary toilet facilities.

However, Paderanga noted that the Philippines continue to lag in several targets, specifically in achieving universal primary education, improving maternal health and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

He said earlier that achieving the MDGs will be a priority of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2010 to 2016.

Paderanga had instructed the NEDA, which coordinates the crafting of the MTPDP, to ensure the disaggregation of plans and targets up to the regional level. This is to determine where to intensify efforts to achieve the MDGs.

The last MDG progress report in the Philippines was released in 2007, while the first two reports were published in 2003 and 2005.

The MDGs are a set of specific and time-bound development goals committed by the governments to be achieved by 2015, with 1990 data as baseline. It was crafted by all the member-nations of the United Nations.

The eight MDGs include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality/women empowerment, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing global partnership for development. –DARWIN G. AMOJELAR REPORTER, Manila Times