Misamis Occidental in leadership of the Provincial Nutrition Committee (PNC) Chair and Governor Herminia M. Ramiro with the dynamic Provincial Nutrition Office (PNO) Team lead by PNAO Marichu G. Tijing hammering-out efforts to continually reduce prevalence of malnutrition and decrease and ultimately eradicate hunger. In fact, the province was recently delisted among top poorest provinces in the Philippines based on the data revealed by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB).

The goal of the province in pursuing healthy and progressive Misamisnons is guided by its vision - to be one of the country’s leading agriculture and aqua-based industries, and eco-tourism destinations with God-loving, self-reliant, empowered, healthy men and women in a safe, disaster-resilient environment, fostering sustainable development and governed by a pro-active, gender-sensitive, transparent and accountable leadership.

PNC’s various effective programs, projects, initiatives and good practices in nutrition which resulted to downward malnutrition trend are behind in the proclamation of Misamis Occidental as the 2016 Regional Outstanding Province in the Region. The initiatives pioneered, implemented and sustained through convergence and collaborative efforts of the local government prioritizing vulnerable groups and nutritionally depressed population among others are the following:

• Functional Provincial Nutrition Committee (PNC) that acts as a “lobby team” chaired by Gov. Ramiro guided by her administration’s thrust: GO-HERMIE that stands for Good Governance, Order of Law and Safety, Health & Social Services/ Human Resource Development, Education and Youth Development, Rural and Agriculture Development, Micro-Enterprise Development, Infrastructure Development & Investment Promotions, Environmental Enhancement; Event and Eco-Tourism.
• Strong partnership with the members of the Provincial Nutrition Committee that meets quarterly for the PNC meeting and encourages sharing of data related on nutrition
• Established Smoking Cessation Rooms almost all municipalities in the province, with intensified Information, Education Campaign (IEC) and dissemination activities.
• Conducts supplementary program in partnership with HAPAG-ASA that provides nutritional meals (Manna Packs and Vita Meal), which are also distributed to all the municipalities in the province to ensure that “no child will be left behind.”
• Intensified Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) by setting up lactation rooms in various areas in the province, conduct of capacity building on IYCF and display and reproduction of nutrition IEC materials
• Increasing budget for nutrition from 2.8 million in 2015 to 5.7 million in 2016.
• Strong NGO involvement as member of the PNC with a total budgetary support of 6.3 million in 2016.
• Outreached IPs in the geographically isolated disadvantage areas (GIDA) and provided services such as distribution of “Toms Shoes”, feeding programs among others to preschool and school children
• Provided television sets to SPED schools to cater educational visual tools for all the children with special needs
• Pursuance of the proposed ordinance No.4-16 on the creation of Nutrition Division under the office of the Provincial Governor
• Established Misamis Occidental Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (MOPADAC) which supported the ordinance enacting the Drug Free Workplace Program of PGMO that further creates the “Kalihokang Alerto sa Misamis Occidental (KAMO)”
• Livestock Dispersal Program thru the assistance of PVET who give priorities to the families with severely underweight and underweight children as the targeted beneficiaries
• PNP Misamis Occidental established PNP Station Vegetable Garden, compulsory wallet size laminated 10 Kumainments for PNP personnel and posting of 10 Kumainments posters in all PNP stations
• Strengthened implementation of Garden of Go Grow and Glow (G4) initiative through “GO HERMIE Organic Vegetable Garden Program” in household and schools
  
  The committed, unified and strong community involvement resulted to the decrease in the prevalence of malnutrition of the preschoolers from 9.11 % in 2014 to 5.53% in 2016. Likewise, prevalence of malnutrition among school children shows a decreasing trend.
  
  Altogether, Misamisnons continue its battle against malnutrition with the goal of levelling up and moving forward to a more livable province of Misamis Occidental gearing towards “One Province in Nutrition”.