MAFAR, WFP, FAO WORK ON FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION ROADMAP FOR BARMM
A five-day activity, as the first phase for the said cause, was jointly conducted by WFP, MAFAR, and FAO on October 7-11, 2019 at the Microtel Suites and Inn, Davao City that was mostly attended by apt staff from MAFAR provincial and regional office, and representatives from the Bangsamoro Region’s Planning and Development Office (BRPDO), MILG, PSA, MENRE, and Office of the Provincial Agriculturists in Lanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi. The activity was considered historic as it was the first of its kind in the Bangsamoro through which, the FSN Roadmap vision, mission, and goals were formulated. These were brainstormed through the facilitation of Engr. Windel P. Diangcalan, Executive Director of BDA.
The group has altogether made the vision as “A self-reliant, food-secured, and resilient Bangsamoro”, with the mission that is “To uplift the living condition of the Bangsamoro by efficiently providing quality services based on moral governance, to achieve food security and nutrition towards sustainable development. These have been translated into three goals anchored on the four pillars of food security (availability, access, utilization, and stability).
The BARMM FSN roadmap has the goals Sustainable, competitive, and accessible food supply chain for Bangsamoro; Balanced intake of halal food, and Adaptive capacity of the Bangsamoro communities. Mishael Q. Argonza, National Progamme Officer of WFP, said the development of the FSN roadmap is the initial step in addressing the prevalence of malnutrition and food insecurity in the Bangsamoro and it is hoped to answer the common question of “How can the people feel the execution of the BOL”. “It realizes the series of meeting we had with Minister Mohammad S. Yacob of MAFAR, in which he consistently stressed that the ministry will champion the creation of the necessary roadmap”, added Argonza.
Meanwhile, Minister Yacob recalled the armed conflicts between the MILF and the government of the Philippines that made the people in the camps the most vulnerable of the Bangsamoro as they were food insecure for so long until now. “We have to make them productive and food secure so with the other people as we at MAFAR, are the backbone of the region and we need the support of the other ministries”, emphasized the MAFAR minister. He expressed his gratitude to WFP and FAO for their invaluable support in making the roadmap as it is a vital guide for the stakeholders in formulating their subsequent workplans. The first details of the BARMM FSN roadmap have been made with the presentations and workshops that highlighted the activity. These included the 12-point development agenda of BARMM and framework of the first Bangsamoro regional development plan (BRDP) presented by Palawan Mamaon of BRPDO; rationale, legal bases and objectives of the roadmap by Johaira Samad of MAFAR; poverty, food security, and agri-fishery production statistics in ARMM by Engr. Akan Tula of PSA; food security and nutrition framework by Juanito Berja of WFP; nutrition situation in the region and food system framework by Ma. Cecille Pastores of FAO; and the emerging challenges and issues in governance and economy by Argonza of WFP.
The same group shall be actively participating in two more phases of the development of the FSN roadmap for BARMM that will happen in November and December this year, respectively.