COVID-19 and hunger

While the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emer­ging Infectious Disea­ses (IATF) has set up a special group to address the need for vaccinations to prevent future health contamination problems, it should pay the same attention to a critical problem the virus has created: hunger.

The hunger rate was 9 percent in December last year, or before the virus. This rate more than tripled to 31 percent last September. The economy took a severe downturn, jobs were lost, poverty increased, and hunger hit an all-time high. If this increasing trend caused by additional factors like typhoons is not reversed , there will be more suffering and unrest.

The IATF is now addressing the health issues caused by the virus, but not the hunger problem that the virus also caused. Today, there is the government’s zero hunger task force, but it should be an integral part of the IATF.

Last Dec. 2, Green Converge president Angelina Galang, supported by Alyansa Agrikultura, organized a forum with more than 1,000 private sector participants: “Game Changing Hunger Initiatives From the Private Sector and the Youth.”

Jose Ma. Montelibano, chair of Walang Iwanan Alliance, gave the overall hunger situation. He said many were not aware of the severity of the 31-percent hunger rate today. He said that if the top 30 percent who were not hungry gave P25 daily, enough to feed one person for a day, there would be no hunger. Despite all the good efforts the government is doing today, it is still not enough to stem increasing hunger. Therefore, there must be new sources and new ways of addressing hunger.

Brother Armin Luistro, former president of the Philippine Business for Social Progress and Department of Education secretary, represented the business and education sectors. He provided a new approach that looks at the different stages to help the farmers and fisherfolk, and the hungry beneficiaries. The innovation was that most of the activities would be done right inside the concerned barangay or municipality, from sourcing to cooking to delivery. This has the added benefit of creating jobs and self-empowerment.

Vicky Wieneke, president Kabisig na Kalahi Foundation, represented the nongovernment and government liaison sectors. She suggested that many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) should use a new approach. It included an innovative way of working with local government units supported by the business sector. This is especially important today because for the first time, the government now has a comprehensive antihunger plan, which NGOs should make full use of.

Dingdong Dantes, chair of Yes Pinoy Foundation, represented the entertainment and youth sectors. Since entertainers have a special relationship with the youth, they are strategically positioned to influence them. He found a three-sect formula he learned in his last 10 years working with youth on development issues.

First, harness. Encourage young people to use their innate capabilities in both the planning and development of the work to be done. Second, sustain. There should be a program so that the work continues beyond the short term to achieve longer term objectives. Third, advance. From the initial stage, there should be progress toward a higher goal. In the case of hunger, the beneficiaries should graduate from recipients of hunger benefits to livelihood activities so they can later feed themselves.

The forum’s Call to Action included an integrated follow-up mechanisms to get further support from the speakers through focal point Gretchen Torno (0917-8009033) at Website walangiwananalliance.com.

At the forum’s conclusion, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles spoke about the government’s new and similarly game-changing Pilipinas Kontra Gutom program. Excited by this, the private sector committed to join hands with the government in this new movement. This public-private antihunger unity should immediately be included as a critical component of the IATF if we are to win our battle against this dangerous virus.

The author is Agriwatch chair, former Secretary of Presidential programs and Projects, and former Undersecretary of DA AND DTI. Contact is [email protected].