ANGARA ALARMED OVER INCREASING HUNGER RATES
AMONG UNEMPLOYED
Solving hunger and malnutrition key to eradicating poverty

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today expressed his concern on the alarming increase in hunger rates among the unemployed, saying that solving hunger and improving nutrition are key factors in eradicating poverty.

According to the latest Social Weather Stations poll, hunger is higher among the unemployed, particularly those who recently lost their jobs. The SWS reported that there is a higher degree of hunger among the unemployed (16.9%), compared with those who have jobs (13.9%). In general, 15.5% of all households in the country reported hunger, referring to those who suffered involuntarily at least once within the past three months. This translates to 2.8 million families, or assuming a household size of five, about 14 million Filipinos.

"This takes place at a time when the global economic downturn continues to devastate both rich and poor countries. What we should concern ourselves with now is protecting those who have no means to buy food, and those who have lost their jobs to the global recession," lamented Angara who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.

Indian economist Amartya Sen argued that hunger is rooted in the differences in wealth and power among populations, which affect their access to limited resources. The solution, therefore, is redistributing purchasing power and ensuring that people have gainful employment that will provide them the means to access food.

Angara, a former Department of Agriculture secretary from 1999-2001, added, "Moreover, there is a need to establish mechanisms and promote national policies that give incentives for maximizing agricultural production. This could solve the problem in two ways: 1) increasing food production to stabilize prices and prevent fluctuations in supply, and 2) raising the incomes of the rural poor who are often the casualties of hunger."

There are dire and alarming concerns within the hunger problem, one of which is malnutrition.

The (United Nations Children's Fund) UNICEF has called malnutrition "a silent emergency," whose persistence has profound and terrible implications for children, society and the future of a nation.

Child malnutrition, while a matter of concern in its own right, is also an obstacle to human capital development and national progress.

He added that malnutrition perpetuates poverty through three routes--direct losses in productivity from poor physical status; indirect losses from poor cognitive function and deficits in schooling; and losses owing to increased health care costs. It's economic costs are heavy: productivity losses to individuals are estimated at more than 10 percent of lifetime earnings, and gross domestic product (GDP) loss is pegged as high as 2 to 3 percent.

"Solving hunger and improving nutrition are therefore key factors in eradicating poverty. It is as much an issue of economics as one of welfare, social protection, and human rights," added Angara.