Countries in Asia-Pacific, including the Philippines, must work double time if they are to meet the United Nations’ goal of wiping out hunger by 2030, according to a new report which examined the food security and nutrition in the region.
UN agencies said 3 million undernourished people in Asia-Pacific must be lifted out of hunger each month from now on to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.
With nearly 500 million of the world’s undernourished people living in Asia-Pacific, and with the 2030 deadline for zero hunger just a decade away, UN agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, are calling for “urgent actions” to address
hunger and malnutrition.
The report’s latest figures relating to hunger, including micronutrient deficiencies also known as hidden hunger, child stunting and wasting make for grim reading amid the emerging nutritional complications brought forward by a crisis of overweight and obesity also sweeping the region.
“The prevalence of stunting and wasting in the region remains high, with stunting rates exceeding 20 percent in a majority of the region’s countries. An estimated 77.2 million children under five years of age were stunted in 2018, and 32.5 million suffered from wasting,” the report read.
It also noted that overweight and obesity are also rising among both children and adults in Asia-Pacific, negatively affecting health and well-being. The resultant burden of diet-related noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, high-blood pressure and respiratory problems, is placing great strain on national health-care budgets and causing productivity losses.
“In many countries in the region, child undernutrition, overweight, obesity and micronutrient deficiencies are converging at the national level, in individual households, and even, in some cases, in the same person. A multi-stakeholder approach is needed to address the multiple burdens of malnutrition,” the report read.
To help reduce inequality and mitigate the impacts of disasters, the report said “nutrition-sensitive” programs must be implemented to accelerate progress in eradicating hunger and malnutrition.
Such specific nutrition principles, UN agencies said, should be applied to the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of social protection programs, both in normal times and in the face of shocks.
The report also acknowledged that some progress has been made in the region to improve food security and nutrition.
“Some of these developments—such as national legislation on food fortification and the implementation of fiscal policies to promote healthy diets—could prove beneficial. Continued economic growth also has the potential to improve food security and nutrition,” it read.
“Nevertheless, growing inequality undermines such positive developments, as do climate and conflict-related shocks and disasters,” it added.
The report evaluated cash-transfer programs, including the one currently being implemented by the Philippine government dubbed Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. It noted that participants in such programs have increased their spending on protein-rich food and poor households have reported increases in the consumption of more nutritious food by their children.
Although social protection has “great potential” to help eradicate hunger and malnutrition, the report said there is a need for more research into the impacts of social protection programs on the health and nutrition of the poor, especially women and children, people with disabilities, and indigenous people.