The Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) is calling on country’s researchers to submit proposals for funding to pursue a study on hunger incidence in the country during this time of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
NRCP Executive Director Dr. Marieta Bañez Sumagaysay said while, they have not yet conducted a direct research on the effects of pandemic, they were calling on researchers to look into the state of hunger in the country during the pandemic crisis.
"I hope na may mananaliksik na maggagawa ng short study on hunger. Ito ang ating contribution po sa ating food security (I hope there will be researchers who will conduct short study on hunger. This will be our contribution to our food security,” she said in a virtual press conference held Thursday, March 4.
NRCP President Dr. Gregorio E. H. del Pilar said the calls for proposals to study hunger stemmed from the NRCP’s close coordination with the Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger.
It was in September last year when the NRCP decided to step in and involve itself in the project.
Quoting DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, del Pilar said the data from Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) will be shared with the NRCP to ensure exhaustive study on the matter.
Based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released in early February, hunger rate has been higher among the jobless than among those with a job/livelihood throughout 2020.
Compared to September 2020, families experiencing involuntary hunger, or those who experienced hunger due to lack of food to eat in the last three months, fell among both the jobless (by 21 points) and among those with a job/livelihood (by seven points), said the survey conducted on Nov. 21-25, 2020 among 1,500 respondents.
SWS said the average joblessness rate for 2020 has reached a record-high 37.4 percent in the last eight years.