Almost unnoticed, an event that acknowledged the initiatives of local government units (LGUs) to fight hunger and establish practices on food security was held June 26, 2024, where President Marcos awarded 17 LGUs the Walang Gutom Awards (WGA) for their programs.

The award supports the government’s Food Stamp Program, or the Walang Gutom 2027, led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The program provides monetary assistance for targeted beneficiaries to purchase food commodities from eligible partner merchant stores.

“Indeed, we need more LGUs like you to achieve our mission of ‘Walang Gutom’ by 2027 and I pray that this year’s awards will also spur and inspire other LGUs to replicate your successes across the country,” he said.

The role of the LGUs was highlighted by the President. “As agents of the government on the ground, our LGUs not only have a better knowledge and have good insights on the incidence of hunger in their localities, but also provide, maybe, perhaps better programs, better strategies, or approaches to address hunger specific to the areas of their constituents.”

The figures facing the Zero Hunger program are challenging.  Some three million households, or 12 percent of Filipino families, experienced hunger at least once over the last three months of 2022, according to DSWD data. And one in three Filipino children under five years old is still suffering from stunted growth due to malnutrition, not a good start for those who will be part of our future generation.

President Marcos has reiterated his call for a united and whole-of-nation approach, including international partners, nonprofit organizations, and ordinary citizens, to succeed in eradicating hunger in the country, emphasizing that “each and every one of us can contribute to the success of our campaign against hunger.”

The President sees the potential to change the situation in the “NGOs and social workers, our partners from the diplomatic corps, and the different international agencies.”

The government has established a network to implement programs to fight hunger.  The Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program created in April 2024, is one of the banner programs of the Task Force on Zero Hunger, aimed at institutionalizing efforts to mitigate hunger and promote food and nutrition security by linking community-based organizations (CBOs) to prospective markets.

Task Force Hunger is “mandated to enhance provision of farm production technologies and extension of services to government-assisted family farms and rural based-organizations, as well as to enhance the sustainability of the EPAHP Program.”

Actively supporting the government programs are many NGOs who are focused on fighting hunger through proper nutrition of children. One of them is the Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) which is known for the Mingo Meals, a high-nutrition drink made from locally sourced rice, mongo (mung beans), and malunggay (moringa). NVC counts 24,903,312 Mingo Meals served as of May 31, 2024, and 55,598 children enrolled in its nutrition program.

The Children’s First One Thousand Days Coalition (CFDC) is an NGO that has a program that provides direct interventions to ensure adequate nutrition and proper healthcare for both mother and child. The interventions include strict monitoring of food supplements throughout pregnancy, six months of exclusive breastfeeding after birth, transitioning to semi-solid and solid foods, and also mandatory vaccinations.

As the President said, we need a whole-of-nation effort to fight hunger.  The ongoing work of government agencies led by the DSWD, the NGOs, private corporations, and community programs show what is being done. But the fight to eradicate hunger needs more support from the citizens, starting with more programs to achieve the goal of Zero Hunger.