Pregnant women and malnourished children in Bicol Region will be provided with quality food as six farmers’ groups were tapped by the government to provide fresh vegetables to an existing nutrition program in the region.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the National Nutrition Council (NNC) forged a partnership on April 21 to enable six agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs) to bring their food products to the “Tutok Kainan: Dietary Supplementation Program (DSP)” of the NNC.
“The joint project is being implemented under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program to meet the regular food requirements of the pregnant women in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur and Catanduanes, and for the 6-23 months-old children in the province of Sorsogon as they are targeted to receive fresh vegetables to improve their nutritional requirements,” DAR Bicol Regional Director Rodrido Realubit said.
The program covers the whole province of Albay, with a total of 620 barangays and targets a total of 3,425 pregnant women.
NNC Central Office Executive Director Azucena M. Dayanghirang explained that malnourished pregnant women and 6-23 months-old children are specifically targeted to prevent child stunting in the first two years of life.
“If we lose this opportunity to intervene in this critical period, we can expect children to be stunted for the rest of their life as stunting becomes irreversible beyond two years. Stunting not only affects physical development but also mental development,” she added.