Monday, March 04, 2013

Farmers go hungry

More people went hungry last year in the Philippines where farming is still the main work of the people. Two-thirds of its population depend on agriculture for livelihood (60 million). That really means food production! And people still go hungry.

The US-based world agriculture research center called the International Food Policy Research Institute or IFPR monitors hunger incidence in the world through its yearly “global hunger index,” The Philippines scored 12.2 in the 2012 index, down from a score of 11.5 in 2011. An increase in the index meant a worsening hunger situation. Last October a survey showing that some 4.3 million households here had nothing to eat in the last three months prior to the survey  and in Metro Manila, with an estimated 738,000 families experiencing hunger, meaning, “with nothing to eat,” in the three months before the survey.

The problem is the price of food. Official figures show more than 50 percent of household income is spent on food.



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