Team A

Theme:
Health and Environment
Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Members:
James Walter Abao
Gabrielle Ariadne Aguilar
Zoelah Kristine Alkuino
Trisha Mae Alsong
Farliane Ancheta
The Problem: (Zoelah Kristine Alkuino and Trisha Mae Alsong)

Unavailability of Healthy Foods on the Table due to Poverty

The Philippines is the highest in Southeast Asia to experience food insecurity from 2017
to 2019. Around 64% of the country’s population which accounts for over 54.9 Filipinos are
persistently food insecure (IPC Chronic Food Insecurity Situation, 2015). Fast forward to 2021,
with the sudden surge of the COVID 19 pandemic that began in 2020, more than half of the
households in the Philippines have been experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity.
Cases of hunger and malnutrition, which relate closely to food insecurity, have risen. In fact an
average of 95 children die from malnutrition in the Philippines every day, and 27 out of 1,000
Filipino children are not able to make it past their fifth birthday (UNICEF for every child, n.d.).
Access to healthy food is necessary in order to obtain the essential nutrients needed for the
human body to properly function and effectively protect itself from sicknesses, especially with a
pandemic currently taking place. Poverty and low income, commonly present among the rural
population and marginalized sectors of the community, are prevalent reasons behind why a lot
of people have limited access to healthy and sufficient food.

Rapid food price inflation is one of the contributors to this problem. Trade distortions,
inefficient logistics, postharvest losses, and uncompetitive marketing practices have the
cumulative effect of rising food prices to the grave detriment of poor consumers while
depressing farm incomes. (Briones, R., Antonio, E., Habito, C., Porio, E., & Songco, D., 2017)
Impoverished families have small and unstable incomes, and they are to face high food prices in
the market. Relative to the magnitude of the problem, resources for addressing hunger and
malnutrition have been inadequate, and much of those that are available so far have not been
placed in high-impact programs. (Briones, R., Antonio, E., Habito, C., Porio, E., & Songco, D.,
2017) There is no shortage of initiatives and measures to combat hunger and malnutrition in
the country. However, some programs that are implemented are sometimes underfunded. These
programs have not been enough to prevent starvation and the present public health disaster.
Being said that more than half of the population experience this recurring problem of
inaccessibility to healthy food, it is not an instantaneous problem to overcome. Many Filipinos,
especially those who are of less privilege, still struggle to provide food for their families let alone
adequate and nutritious food.
Solutions:
Media Campaigns (Farliane Ancheta)

The first solution that the proponents came up with is disseminating information through
the media. Since the media has become very powerful when it comes to spreading information
to the public, the proponents have decided to make use of its power to brief people on how
poverty has greatly affected groups of people to the point where food has become very scarce
and a luxury for them. The proponents will make use of infographics, audio-video presentations,
as well as posters for our other programs such as seminars, feeding programs, and donation
drives. Through this solution, not only will the public be made aware of the issue of food scarcity,
it will also gather help from people who are privileged enough to provide for the affected.

Seminars and Symposiums (Gabrielle Ariadne Aguilar )

Second, the proponents would like to conduct seminars and symposiums wherein the
goal is to lecture and inform the target community about the existing problem. The proponents
will highlight the advantages of eating healthy, nutrition advice, as well as suggest activities that
promote healthy living, such as planting their own food provided that the soil is rich and ideal for
planting. If possible, these shall be conducted in person so that the proponents can directly
monitor the progress of the families and tell the effectiveness of the activities, with all minimum
health protocols observed.

Knowing that the target community are families who cannot provide a healthy meal due
to poverty, it is only appropriate for the seminars and symposiums to be held face-to-face to
make it more convenient for them. Apart from the technical challenges and the possibility for
families to lack access and other technical necessities for the event, face-to-face seminars allow
the presenters to have direct interaction with the participants, taking advantage of the
opportunity to have dialogue, feedback, and prompt examples from the audience (Hadjisoteriou,
2015). The presenter shall have complete control over the session, and any interruption shall be
avoided. The Regional Conciliation and Mediation Branch 5 promoted healthy eating and
nutrition through an in-house seminar, inviting an expert on healthy diet and lifestyle (Borcelis,
2019). Other organizations such as the Healthy Options Philippines and Philippine Society of
Nutritionist-Dietitians, Inc., conducted seminars and symposiums about different ways to
advocate healthy living through healthy eating.
Volunteering Services (James Walter Abao)

Another solution the proponents provided is the Volunteering Services which includes
joining Local or National NGO’s that also advocate against the same problem and Feeding
Programs. Joining in Local or National NGO’s is one of the specified tasks in our volunteering
services. A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a non-profit group that functions
independently of any government (Floger, 2018). One of the main reasons to join an NGO is to
contribute to a cause you care about and these organizations work daily to improve the lives of
those around them, many focusing on specific communities (NGO, 2019). Feeding Programs
are one of the easiest but also an impactful thing you can do to help a community, especially
those who cannot afford healthy food due to poverty. Organizations like Feed the Children,
Reach Out and Feed Philippines Inc., and Childhope Philippines with their newest program, the
Kalyenderia Mobile Soup Kitchen; all these organizations are either focusing or have a program
in combating against hunger and helping out communities that cannot afford healthy foods due
to their situation.

We know that these Volunteering Services are a physical and face-to-face activity or
event but despite that fact, this is still doable in the pandemic. By following and abiding to the
health safety protocols we can still conduct this activity/event in areas or places where the
problem is present.
REFERENCES:

Alkuino, D. (2017). The power of media and information and the responsibility of the users.
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Briones, R., Antonio, E., Habito, C., Porio, E., & Songco, D. (2017). Food Security and Nutrition
in the Philippines. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from
https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000015508/download/

Borcelis, R. (2019). Seminar on Nutrition: Healthy Eating Habits. Regional Conciliation and
Mediation Branch 5. Retrieved December 15, 2021 from
https://rcmb5.ncmb.gov.ph/?p=1160

Childhope Philippines. (2021). Kalyenderia: Childhope’s Advocacy to Address Food Insecurity

and Hunger Amid COVID-19. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from
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Feed the Children Philippines. (2021). Retrieved December 15, 2021, from
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from
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Hadjisoteriou, K. (2020). Webinars Vs Face-to-Face Seminars – Pros & Cons. DanatCon.

Retrieved December 15, 2021, from
https://danatcon.com/webinars-vs-face-to-face-seminars-pros-cons/
IPC Chronic Food Insecurity Situation (2015). Philippines: chronic food insecurity situation.
Retrieved from
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Reach Out and Feed Philippines, Inc. (2020). Retrieved December 15, 2021, from
https://www.feedphilippines.org/what-we-do.html

The Intern Group (2019). 6 reasons to intern at an NGO. Retrieved from

https://www.theinterngroup.com/our-blog/reasons-to-join-an-ngo/

UNICEF for every child (n.d.). Child survival - helping children survive and thrive. Retrieved from
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