DAR, Nutrition Council pool efforts to fight hunger – Nograles
Cabinet
Secretary and Task Force Zero Hunger head Karlo Nograles announced recently
that the Task Force, together with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
Region 3 office and the National Nutrition Council (NNC) - NCR signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger
and Poverty (EPAHP) program to address the nutritional needs of pregnant women
and small children.
The
signing was held last Thursday, May 20, at Clark Marriot, Mabalacat, Pampanga
and included the DAR, NNC-NCR and Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Organizations
(ARBOs) to ensure supplies for the Tutok Kainan: Dietary Supplementation
Program (DSP) of the National Nutrition Council.
"We
need more of this kind of collaboration among agencies and stakeholders,
especially since the NNC's Tutok Kainan is among the banner programs of Task
Force Zero Hunger. Our aim is to provide for nutritionally-at-risk pregnant
women for 90 days, and for 6 to 23-month old children for 18 days to address
their dietary needs,” the Malacañang official explained.
Nograles
likewise stated that there was an urgent need to strengthen farmers' incomes,
stressing "the 240 ARBOs that are part of the EPAHP program earned PhP
148,863,818.80 for the produce they sold up to December 2020."
The
Office of the Cabinet Secretariat was joined during the virtual MOU signing by
DAR Secretary John Castriciones, Usec. Emily Padilla, Usec. Virginia Orogo,
Asec. Milagros Isabel Cristobal, DAR Region 3 Regional Director Atty. Maria
Celestina Tam, NNC Executive Director Azucena Dayanghirang, NNC NCR Coordinator
Milagros Elisa Federizo, the president of the Santo Tomas San Luis Farmers
Association, representatives from other partner agencies and ARBO members.
EPAHP
was launched to respond to urgent needs relating to food and poverty. Partner
agencies include the DILG, DepEd, DOH, DOST, DTI, NAPC, NIA, TESDA, PopCom,
LANDBANK, Philippine Coconut Authority, National Dairy Authority, Philippine
Carabao Center, DBP, DICT, CDA, BFAR, DBM, PCIC and the NFA. Technical support
has been provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World
Food Program (WFP).
NNC
Executive Director Azucena Dayanghirang expressed gratitude to the Task Force
and to DAR for pushing the program, acknowleding the widespread benefits to
intended beneficiaries particularly during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Nograles
for his part acknowledged that it was an honor for him to lead the Task Force
and be at the forefront in the fight against hunger and poverty.
"This
is among my personal advocacies, one I have been actively pushing even before
joining the executive department, when I was still in Congress as Davao
representative."###
