GOODBYE GUTOM!

by: Marjorie Ann Duterte

Gawad Kalinga and the Department of Agriculture have joined forces to eradicate hunger in the Philippines while engaging the GK communities, local government, schools and private individuals.

The multi-sectoral effort to address hunger comes in response to the disturbing report that the problem of hunger in the Philippines remains high with 15% of families experiencing involuntary hunger according to the Social Weather Stations Q1 2009 report despite the abundance of natural resources in the country.

Last March 28, 2009, GK and the Agriculture department officially launched Bayan-anihan (BA), the food-sufficiency program of Gawad Kalinga which aims to remove hunger by empowering families to produce their own food for their own consumption. The program seeks to launch 2,500 farms in the next 3 years to feed at least 500,000 people for life.

A planting ceremony was held at GK Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Village in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija attended by DA Secretary Arthur Yap, Bayan-anihan champion John Concepcion, San Isidro Mayor Sonia Lorenzo, Globe Telecom Community Relations director Jeffrey Tarayao, Central Luzon State University president Dr. Ruben Sevilla, GK chairman Joe Tale and nation-builder Tony Meloto, who along with other leaders and volunteers declared the fight against hunger, Goodbye Gutom!

“Today, we start planting the very first seeds of hope,” said BA champion John Concepcion. The D-day also signaled the start of the first batch of 115 Bayan-anihan sites to rise all over Luzon. A simultaneous planting of vegetable farms called “Sabayng Pagtatanim” happened on the same day in over 100 GK sites all over Metro Manila, the Ilocos Region, Cordillera Autonomous Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa.

Participants were provided with their vegetable seeds and seedlings, fruit seedlings, weighing scales and organic fertilizers. Each vegetable-growing site was at least 10 square meters for each family with adequate freshwater source. Open pollinated seed varieties were used to allow replanting of new produce. The types of vegetables planted were grouped according to a “recipe mix”, like selections used in pinakbet and sinigang, which are local Filipino dishes.

“Our targets are big and bold, because the problem of hunger is big,” added Concepcion, emphasizing that the solution to the problem is a multi-sectoral effort from the government, schools, and private sectors. For their part, the Central Luzon State University whose expertise is in the area of agriculture, gave their staunch commitment to distilling their knowledge and expertise to GK communities.

“Sa ating sama-samang pagtutulungan, atin pong masusugpuan ang kagutuman sa ating bayan,” said Dr. Sevilla, president of CLSU.(Through our united efforts, we can solve the problem of hunger in our country.) A series of training programs about backyard gardening and community farming were already given in February to the GK residents. Education and empowerment seminars for the youth are also in progress through a planned youth movement campaign in June to ensure sustainability.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap noted that the launching of Bayan-anihan in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija was very appropriate as the town is known for being the first to start the fight against oppression during the Spanish colonization.

“Mag-uumpisa tayo ngayon ng himagsikan laban sa gutom….Isang regalo ng henerasyon na ito para sa susunod na henerasyon,” he said. (Today, we start a revolution against hunger. This is a gift of our generation to the next generation.)
GK chairman Joe Tale encouraged the participants to be heroes to one another. “Ito pong pagsasama-sama, ito po ang solusyon,” he said. (Our working together, this is the solution.)

“This is the spirit that should unite us, that will help us rise over our tribalties, to help unite the Filipino people,” GK champion Tony Meloto affirmed.
“This is the tragedy of our times. Ang mga may-ari ng lupa nasa abroad, pero maraming nagugutom,” he noted. (The owners of the land are abroad, but many are hungry.)There is no reason why the Filipino should be hungry in this country,” he said as he explained the economics of Bayan-anihan, the economics of sharing.

“It is for the Filipino to discover his innate capacity to be a productive citizen. Every Filipino has his own genius,” he affirmed.
GK Bayan-anihan program seeks to impart the culture of productivity by ensuring food security and generating livelihood opportunities for hunger-prone families. Through the development of a self-sufficiency program for people at the grassroots level, it hopes to encourage the community to supply their own food, and to continue this for the next generation.

With Bayan-anihan, the fruits of prosperity in a land of abundance will bear fruit in time especially for the poor who will never have to go hungry again.
(Editor’s Note: In the month of May 2009 alone, 2 months after Bayan-anihan was launched, 24 metric tons of vegetables were harvested from 115 GK Bayan-anihan farms. Goodbye Gutom Pilipinas!)

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Who will help each other but each one of us filipinos!