The province of Kalinga lies in the central part of the Cordillera Administrative Region. It has natural panoramic views and scenic spots for tourist destinations. Aside from its natural grandeur, the province has a rich cultural heritage; its music, dances, and arts are passed from generation to generation. Its capital is Tabuk City, the rice granary of the region. Despite this, the province once belonged to the top 20 poorest provinces in the Philippines or the so-called “Club 20”.
Through the brainchild program “Pumiyaan” which addressed socio-economic concerns in pilot towns in the province where the convergence of services by the provincial government and line agencies is implemented, Kalinga graduated from the 20 “Club 20” in 2013. This year became the jumpstart of the economic developments of the province like the infrastructure development, among others.
However, there are other areas of concern such as the malnutrition prevalence in the province that needs to be addressed and curtailed using effective agriculture-nutrition-sensitive interventions. First is stunting, an indicator of chronic malnutrition when a child's height is short for his/her age under the World Health Organization-Child Growth Standards (WHO-CGS). From 2017-2019, Kalinga has one of the highest numbers of stunting in the region. Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial government responded well and remained steadfast.
The Provincial Nutrition Committee (PNC) still performed its mandates and accomplished most of its programs, projects, and activities during the year. As a result, stunting had a decreasing trend for the past three years, from 15.62% in 2019 to 12.9% in 2021. Second is underweight or the lack of weight for age. The extended efforts initiated and conducted by the provincial government and the hard-working and dedicated health workers at the grassroots level, underweight among children had a continual decrease for three years, from 6.3% in 2019 to 4.4% in 2021.
Lastly are overweight and obesity or the abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a health risk. These are prevalent in the province, affecting a significant population of children and predisposing them to particular nutrition and health risks. While there were improvements in the delivery of services because of the interventions implemented over the years, there are still some concerns that need to be addressed, especially regarding health and nutrition services being one of the frontline services of the provincial government.
Other programs and activities initiated by the provincial government though the PNC include the "Search for Healthy Barangay", an annually conducted event geared toward uplifting social welfare, health and nutrition, education, safety, a clean and green environment, local governance, and every barangay’s continued support of all health and social programs, projects, and activities. Two barangays from each municipality undergo evaluation for two categories: new entry and sustainability. Another is the celebration of Nutrition Month in support of the national government's programs on nutrition. Several contests are conducted each year for all ages. Yet, because of the pandemic, social gatherings were prohibited, so the provincial culmination activity for 2021 was done through online nutrition contests using social media platforms. All the entries were uploaded to the PNC-Kalinga fan page, judged and voted for through reactions. Nutrition education is also integral in the province’s nutrition programs as it shapes long-term and habitual behavior. The PNC facilitated the “Pabasa sa Nutrisyon” which aimed to fight hunger and malnutrition by educating the parents of malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women, and other family members.
For a better delivery of nutrition-related services to barangays, funded activities like capacity building for the Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) in the province were held. The BNS basic training course was conducted for new ones to develop their competencies in planning and organizing, identifying and locating targets, providing basic services, and reporting and monitoring to capacitate and educate them to perform their duties effectively. The BNS Congress was also conducted per municipality in line with the new normal situation. All the accredited BNSs received a stipend worth of ₱2,500.00 each, an IEC shirt, umbrella, and raincoat jacket. The event further served as a venue for continuously building the capacities of BNSs to improve their delivery of nutrition services. Likewise, it will help the BNSs prioritize programs to mitigate hunger and malnutrition as they are also front liners in nutrition at the community level. In addition, the activity paid tribute to the BNSs for untiringly volunteering despite the very minimal allowance they get.
The PNC envisions a province free from all forms of hunger and malnutrition that can be attained by providing quality nutrition services through the collaborative efforts of competent and committed stakeholders. To have a road map of what programs, projects, or activities will effectively address the remaining concerns in its battle against malnutrition, the committee formulated a three-year action plan called the “Provincial Plan of Action for 2022-2025". This plan establishes provincial outcome targets toward reducing stunting, wasting and obesity, as well as micronutrient deficiencies, among other indicators.
Yrgyl Sucdad/ Velanie Dao-ines/ Bella Basalong
