A total of 20,895 children enrolled in 688 Child Development Centers (CDCs) in Antique stand to benefit from the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) that will be implemented this month or in early October.
The SFP of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) aims to mitigate hunger and address the malnutrition problem by providing target children with nutritious food once a day during their class hours for 120 days.
Faith Villavicencio, DSWD Project Development Officer, said in an interview on Friday a total of PHP52.655 million was allotted for its implementation in the 18 towns of the province for School Year 2023-2024.
This year, the DSWD has increased the daily allocation per child to PHP21 for rice and viand from last year’s PHP15.
“Social preparation is already ongoing in the four towns of Antique that will be the first to implement the 120 days SFP,” Villavicencio said, identifying Barbaza, Bugasong, Laua-an, and Patnongon towns as pilot areas.
The social preparation includes orientation of the parents of targeted children about the program and how it can help mitigate hunger and improve their nutritional status.
Villavicencio said 716 children from Barbaza, 1,180 from Bugasong, 395 from Laua-an, and 1,209 from Patnongon will be the first target recipients of the program.
They will be weighed before, during, and after the SFP implementation by the Barangay Nutrition Scholars as a basis to determine if there is improvement in their nutritional status. (PNA)
