The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) join the National Food Authority (NFA) in promoting iron fortified rice among school children and communities in Iloilo City.
The NFA Thursday, October 6, led a school hopping campaign for the use of iron fortified rice (I-Rice) in Barangay Obrero National High School, Lapuz district, Iloilo City.
NFA Iloilo provincial manager Pablito Gemarino said the project is part of NFA program to encourage communities and schools to eat I-Rice in their daily meals. Promoting I-Rice in schools has been an ongoing project in Iloilo province", Gemarino reported.
According to Gemarino, the NFA has some 200,000 bags of iron fortified rice ready for distribution in Iloilo alone. This is more than 50 percent of their I-Rice distribution target.
In an earlier interview, NFA regional director Tomas Escarez revealed I-Rice is a part of the national government’s program to fight malnutrition and vitamin deficiency in the countryside. Escarez NFA will make sure that all their rice will be iron-fortified soon, Escarez claimed.
Cristina Lopriore, a nutrition consultant of EU assured they are supporting the I-Rice project of the national government through the NFA.
Lopriore revealed EU and UNICEF are collaborating on the implementation of programs on child food security and nutrition, universal salt iodization, and other forms of supplementation in various countries in the Southeast Asia like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and the Philippines.
Dr. Ma. Pura Rayco Solon, nutrition specialist of the UNICEF, said that the underweight and malnutrition rates in the country do not fare well compared to other countries in the region.
I-Rice will help in the role of vitamins and nutrients in children’s and maternal health. She stressed that UNICEF and EU also provide technical support and financial aid to further the I-Rice project of the NFA.
Ma. Pia Paz Gan-Uygongco, executive director of the La Filipina Uygongco Foundation Inc., informed they will now use I-Rice in the feeding programs.
La Filipina Uygongco Foundation Inc. conducts free daily feeding program in various elementary schools in Western Visayas.
I-Rice currently retails at P25 to P27 per kilo in NFA accredited sellers.
EU Philippine delegates Anja Bauer and Rita Bustamante, and Dorothy Foote and Maria Evelyn Carpio of UNICEF Philippines are also present during the school hopping and I-rice campaign. (PNA)/MP
No comments:
Post a Comment