President Duterte has formed a 15-member government task force to craft a national food policy to eliminate hunger.
Duterte issued Executive Order No. 101 designating the Cabinet Secretary to chair Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger that will supervise and coordinate efforts to combat hunger, attain food security, and improve nutrition.
“Involuntary hunger, food security, under-nutrition, and child wasting, stunting, and mortality continue to be serious concerns in the country,” Duterte said in the order.
“There is a need to carefully coordinate, rationalize, monitor, and assess the efforts of concerned government agencies and instrumentalities to ensure a whole-of-government approach to eradicating hunger and achieving food security,” he added.
The Secretaries of Agriculture and Social Welfare and Development have been designated as vice chairpersons of the task force.
Members include the Secretaries of Agrarian Reform, Budget, Education, Environment, Health, Labor and Employment, Interior and Local Government, Trade and Industry, Science and Technology, Information and Communications Technology, the National Economic and Development Authority director general, and Commission on Higher Education.
“The task force shall ensure the government policies, initiatives, and projects shall be coordinated, responsive, and effective,” Duterte said.
The group must formulate a National Food Policy that will outline priorities “based on a comprehensive understanding on the problem of hunger and related issues, and provide a road map for achieving zero hunger.” (Genalyn Kabiling)
