The Aboitiz group has thrown its support to the “Kain Tayo Pilipinas” program, which seeks to feed and alleviate malnutrition in the country’s, as part of its commitment to help the Philippines achieve the goal of ending hunger by 2030.
In a news statement, the Aboitiz group said that it will make financial donations to the program, while continuing its own social initiatives “that address involuntary hunger and advocate for food security in the country.”
The Kain Tayo Pilipinas program is one of the flagship programs of the Pilipinas Kontra Gutom (PKG) movement led by private corporations, non-government organizations together with concerned government entities.
Launched last July 20, the program implements a three-fold approach of feeding, education, and collaboration to “holistically address” the issue of hunger and malnutrition in the country, according to the same statement. This means that the feeding program will be complemented by education programs, with the aim of making nutrition knowledge accessible and sustainable to every Filipino family.
“We in the Aboitiz Group support Pilipinas Kontra Gutom and Kain Tayo in its mission to alleviate malnutrition and achieve zero Hunger by 2030,” Aboitiz Foundation President and COO Maribeth L. Marasigan said.
“Aboitiz is also a part of PKG’s work stream 1, a multi-sectoral team that is focused to address availability and accessibility in its goal of elevating farming as a dignified and sustainable profession that will contribute to food security. In the face of the economic slowdown brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to collaborate and work together to expand our reach and to help feed more Filipinos in need,” Marasigan added.
Among the programs that the Aboitiz have implemented in line with the zero hunger goal are the Kutitap Feeding Program and Pilmico Livelihood Program, which are spearheaded by its food unit, Pilmico.
The Kutitap Feeding program seeks to address malnutrition in public schools, while support local businesses while the Pilmico Livelihood Program, which was launched in 2014, aims to provide sustainable livelihood to Filipino farmers and promote consumption of locally produced food, according to Aboitiz.
“The Kutitap Feeding Program was launched as a sustainable initiative, empowering local bakeries through the technical training of bakers and equipment donation, and the regular donation of nutritious baked goods to children in public schools,” it said.
“Such initiative helps sustain the businesses of the bakeries involved in the program and significantly decreases the number of severely wasted and wasted students while increasing school attendance,” it added.
Aboitiz said its foundation, in collaboration with various business units of the group, has also supported the Livelihood Recovery Project for Partner Cooperatives and Associations Nationwide (REstart) that helps cooperatives through donation of farm inputs, bakery restarter packages and egg-laying machines.
“Most recently, the Aboitiz Group empowered Hindang and Marawi-Baloi farmers to become ‘agri-preneurs’ in Iligan,” it said.
“Aboitiz Foundation donated farm equipment—such as corn shellers, moisture checkers, PVC tarps, weighing scales, and other farm inputs—to help the farmers increase their crop production and grow their cooperatives, which in turn will contribute to the food security in their provinces,” it added.