OVER 14 million Filipinos became moderately or severely food insecure under the term of President Duterte compared to the last few years of the previous administration, according to a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
In the 2020 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, FAO said there were 59 million Filipinos who were considered moderately or severely food insecure between 2017 and 2019. This was a 14.1-million increase from the estimate of 44.9 million between 2014 and 2016.
Among Southeast Asian countries with the latest data, the Philippines recorded the highest number of moderately to severely food-insecure citizens. Those with data for 2017-2019 were Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.
“Updates for many countries have made it possible to estimate hunger in the world with greater accuracy this year,” FAO said. “The revision confirms the trend reported in past editions: the number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014.”
Data from the report showed a 6.4-million increase in the number of severely food-insecure Filipinos.
Between 2017 and 2019, an estimated 18.8 million Filipinos were severely food-insecure, higher than the 12.4 million recorded between 2014 and 2016.
The FAO also said the total number of undernourished Filipinos increased by 2.4 million to 15.4 million in 2017 to 2019, from 12 million in 2014 to 2016.
Data also showed that 63 percent of the country’s population as of 2017, estimated at 105.2 million, could not afford a healthy diet.
A healthy diet in the Philippines costs $4.31 and takes up about 65.7 percent of the food expenditure.
Among the Asean member countries, the Philippines had the third highest proportion of the population who cannot afford a healthy diet.
The country with the highest such proportion is Lao PDR at 83.3 percent, followed by Indonesia at 68.8 percent.
However, in terms of the cost of healthy diets, the Philippines already had one of the lowest cost of healthy diets compared to other Asean countries.
Thailand had the highest cost of food which amounted to $4.89 followed by Lao PDR at $4.85.
Meanwhile, FAO also estimated that a nutrient-adequate diet, which costs $2.43 in the country, cannot be afforded by 30.6 percent of the population. The cost of a nutrient-adequate diet accounts for 37.1 percent of food expenditures.
In terms of the affordability of an energy-sufficient diet, this amounts to $1.16, but 2.6 percent of the population cannot afford it. This accounts for 17.6 percent of the food expenditure in the Philippines.
“It is unacceptable that, in a world that produces enough food to feed its entire population, more than 1.5 billion people cannot afford a diet that meets the required levels of essential nutrients and over 3 billion people cannot even afford the cheapest healthy diet. People without access to healthy diets live in all regions of the world; thus, we are facing a global problem that affects us all,” the report stated.
Grow your veggies
One of the ways to address food insecurity is through homestead food production. By growing the food they need, households save on transportation costs to reach markets.
FAO said the distance to food markets is a key barrier for consumers to access healthy meals. The distance often makes food more expensive.
Based on the results of the National Nutrition Survey, FAO said more than half of the green, leafy and yellow vegetables and more than a quarter of other vegetables consumed by households were produced in homesteads.
“At optimal levels of sales and own consumption, the proportion of rural households that otherwise would not be able to afford a nutrient-adequate diet could decrease from 37 percent to none,” FAO said.
FAO said the report assessed food security and nutrition globally, with projections of what the world may look like in 2030, if trends of the last decade continue.
FAO projections showed the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and, despite some progress, most indicators are also not on track to meet global nutrition targets.
The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic.
The report also introduces new analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts. It presents valuations of the health and climate-change costs associated with current food consumption patterns, as well as the potential cost savings if food consumption patterns were to shift toward healthy diets that include sustainability considerations.
The report then concludes with a discussion of the policies and strategies to transform food systems to ensure affordable healthy diets, as part of the required efforts to end both hunger and all forms of malnutrition.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza
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