Garcia Hernandez, Bohol - As a 4th class municipality, Garcia Hernandez of the province of Bohol may have limited resources for the nutrition program, but it has never hindered its Municipal and Barangay Nutrition Committees in their nutrition program implementation. Resourceful to the core, Garcia Hernandez’s nutrition committee is able to tap external support for the nutrition program from organizations like the East-Poblacion Solidarity Association (EPSA) and the Philippine Mining Service Corporation (PMSC) Bohol Plant. The former covers East-Poblacion while the latter operates in eight (8) barangays of the municipality.

By having a memorandum of agreements with said organizations, the Municipality of Garcia Hernandez is able to ensure that a certain proportion of their gross income is given to the local nutrition committees mainly to fund their dietary supplementation program which targets children 24-59 months, lactating mothers as well as pregnant women.

In a display of transparency which is highly appreciated by the nutrition committee’s partners, budget utilization reports have also been shared during the barangay council’s regular sessions as well as submitted to the partner organizations.

For their contribution to the nutrition program, both organizations made a difference in the ease of nutrition program implementation, expanding dietary supplementation coverage, and enabling the conduct of other nutrition and related activities. This has positively affected the community’s nutrition situation as evidenced by the decrease in the municipality’s stunting rate from 4.3% in 2019 to 2.72% in 2022. // NGS