Twenty-seven farmer groups from Western Visayas have vowed to provide a steady supply of food products in order to sustain a program that's designed to benefit pregnant women and malnourished children.

The agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations will supply food to the “Tutok Kainan: Dietary Supplementation Program” of the National Nutrition Council (NNC), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said Tuesday, May 18.

A virtual signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and marketing agreement for this purpose was carried out Monday.

“The joint project is being implemented under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program which aims to provide supplemental food to pregnant women for 90 days and complementary food for 6-24 month children for 18 calendar days prioritizing those who are nutritionally at risk or undernourished,” DAR Undersecretary for Support Services Emily Padilla said.

The program, which has a budget of P2.3 million, targets 1,866 pregnant women in the province of Negros Occidental, covering 17 municipalities and 11 component cities.

According to Western Visayas Regional Director Sheila B. Enciso, the farmer groups from the Negros Island Federation of Agrarian Reform Cooperative will serve as the consolidator of the products. They served as the signatory to the marketing agreement with the NNC.

Enciso emphasized the need to solidify their partnership in order to ensure stable income for farmers and access to nutritious foods for at-risk pregnant women and malnourished youngsters.

The EPAHP intends to contribute to the national government’s efforts in addressing hunger and poverty by directly benefiting the poorer sector of the society through the synergy and convergence of essential services under the Office of the President-Office of the Cabinet Secretary.