Capitol to Expand Feeding Program, Eyes Samboan, Catmon and Madridejos Towns
In collaboration with Gawad Kalinga (GK) and other government agencies, the Cebu Provincial Government signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to implement the Kusina sa Kahimsug ug Pag-amuma (KKP) program in the municipalities of Samboan, Catmon and Madridejos, during the End Hunger Summit held at the Capitol Social Hall last April 27.
The summit was participated in by at least 19 municipalities across the province and officials from the local government of Compostela Valley in Mindanao.
Cebu Gov. Hilario P. Davide III underscored the importance of the summit as a venue to find more ways and strengthen the government’s drive to end hunger and malnutrition.
“The poorest man is not the man who has nothing to eat but the man who has no dreams. The children we feed in Kusina sa Kahimsug ug Pag-amuma (KKP) program are rich in dreams for themselves and their families,” said Davide.
Gov. Tyron Uy of Compostela Valley shared the province’s experiences and successful strategic plans in the anti-hunger and malnutrition campaign, through its Bayanihan para sa Kalusugan: Kusina ng Kalinga (BKP:KNK).
Uy said that Cebu can replicate the program, saying that Cebuanos are innovators and a frontier of development in the Visayas.
Mayor Mariano R. Martinez of San Remigio town, north Cebu also shared the development of the feeding program as his town volunteered to be the pilot area of the Cebu Provincial Government’s KKP program.
The mayor highlighted the establishment of two centralized kitchens, as well as the cooperation of its local volunteers and parents in providing lunch meals for at least 5,000 kindergarten and Grades 2 to 6 students who were identified as “wasted” and “severely wasted”.
According to the Nutritionist Dietician Association of the Philippines (NDAP), wasted and severely wasted children are two types of malnutrition. Wasted children are identified to have lower height than its weight. They are capable to do regular work like standing, speaking, while severely wasted children have lower weight than its height. Severely wasted children can sit but are incapable of standing and can speak but incapable of completing phrases. Hence, they are identified as “bedridden” individuals.
This year, Kusina sa Kahimsug ug Pag-amuma (KKP) will head to the towns of Samboan, Catmon and Madridejos. These towns are identified to be among the top 10 localities with highest prevalence of malnutrition in the province.
Kusina sa Kahimsug is a localized adaptation of Gawad Kalinga’s Kusina sa Kalinga, a platform to end hunger. The concept of using a system with centralized kitchen was introduced during the 2017 End Hunger Summit.
Together with the Department of Education Cebu Province Division, Department of Social Welfare and Development 7, Gawad Kalinga, and the Municipality of San Remigio, the Provincial Government embarked on a mission to address malnutrition and hunger among the children of Cebu.
The Kusina sa Kahimsug ug Pag-amuma (KKP) program is line with Davide’s Six-Key Agenda that focuses on health and social services. This agenda aims to provide basic services and a holistic approach to the poor and vulnerable sectors– the children, women and mothers, and the elderly.
The summit ended with the sealing of the MOA, with Gov. Davide, representatives from the three municipalities, Dr. Rhea Mar A. Angtud of DepEd Cebu, GK provincial head Antonio Florendo, Mayor Martinez and DSWD 7 Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre as signatorees.
