The National Nutrition Council, committed to building capacities of local government units in addressing hunger and malnutrition, will expand the Food and Nutrition Security – Early Warning System (FNS-EWS) to ten (10) ECCD (Early Childhood Care and Development) areas in 2016. This is expected to contribute to NNC’s objective of strengthening implementation of intervention packages designed to prevent hunger and malnutrition among infants and children in their first 1,000 days (from conception to 2 years of age).
FNS-EWS is a type of food security information system that monitors and analyzes relevant information that may foretell a possible crisis such as food shortage or health problem. It is a regular and periodic collection of relevant data (e.g. food production, climate, food prices, etc.) to determine status of food supply and food security in a community. Depending on the food security situation in the community, the early warning system may provide recommendations on building capacity for disaster mitigation, resilience and preparedness, and on recovery or rehabilitation interventions that rebuild livelihoods and ensure food security. (FAO, 2007. Food and Security Information System and Networks)
The ten ECCD areas targeted for FNS-EWS expansion in 2016 are:
- Alaminos City, Pangasinan
- Lucena City, Quezon
- Libmanan, Camarines Sur
- Passi City, IloIlo
- La Carlota City, Negros Occidental
- Dalaguete, Cebu
- Hilongos, Leyte
- Kumalarang, Zamboanga del Sur
- Hagonoy, Davao del Sur
- Maimbung, Sulu
Criteria for selection of areas are the following:
- High prevalence and magnitude of undernourished under-5 years old children as indicated by the latest OPT Plus results
- Willingness of area to participate in the project and provide counterpart, if necessary
- Potential for successful implementation and actual use of EWS in local nutrition program management in the LGU;
- Available and regular collection of relevant data that can provide a good foundation for a functional EWS;
- Awareness of local officials about the vulnerability of the municipality/city and their interest to mitigate food insecurity among affected population.
- Relative accessibility of the area.
In partnership with local government units and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO), NNC has actively pursued the expansion of the FNS-EWS in as many areas in the country. The system has been successfully established in more than thirty (30) areas in the country since its introduction in 2010.
