According to a report by JournalOnline.com, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian held separate meetings mid-April 2023 with officials from Metrobank Foundation, the World Food Program, National Food Authority, National Nutrition Council (NNC), and the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute to discuss the agency’s efforts to fight hunger and achieve food security in the country.
Discussions included the provision of digital food stamps for DSWD recipients to buy goods in grocery stores and supermarkets and the use of iron-fortified rice in family food packs for disaster-affected families and feeding programs. Secretary Gatchalian has been continuously engaging the public and private sectors in coming up with innovative solutions to achieve food security and end hunger and malnutrition in the country.
For its part, the National Nutrition Council Region VII has also been actively working on its mandate and finding solutions to address malnutrition in Central Visayas through stakeholder cooperation, partnerships (like the one with the Media Information Network for Nutrition and Development 7, or MIND 7), and implementation of initiatives from the grassroots level.