Hunger eases slightly for most Filipinos – SWS

Hunger among Filipino families eased slightly in March, with the number of households ex

periencing hunger decreasing by about 100,000, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results showed.

The first quarter survey, conducted from March 28 to 31 among 1,440 respondents, found that 9.5 percent or an estimated 2.3 million families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months.

The measure of hunger refers to involuntary suffering since the survey question specifies that the hunger experienced was due to lack of food to eat.

SWS said the latest hunger rate is one percentage point lower than the 10.5 percent (2.4 million families) in December 2018. It also marks the second consecutive quarter where there has been a decrease in hunger.

SWS attributed the lower hunger rate to the decline in the incidence of hunger in Metro Manila and Mindanao, but slight increase in other areas.

The nationwide quarterly hunger incidence consisted of 11.7 percent (about 387,000 families) in Metro Manila, 10.3 percent (about 1.1 million families) in the rest of Luzon, 10 percent (about 472,000 families) in Visayas, and 6.1 percent (about) 345,000 families) in Mindanao.

In Metro Manila, quarterly hunger dropped by 6.6 points from 18.3 percent in December (estimated 581,000) to 11.7 percent in March.

This is the first in four consecuMalabon.

tive quarters where there has been a decrease in hunger incidence in Metro Manila, having risen by a total of 12.3 points through the four quarters of 2018.

The 9.5 percent quarterly hunger in March 2019 is the sum of 8.1 percent (estimated 2 million families) who experienced moderate hunger and 1.3 percent (estimated 327,000 families) who experienced severe hunger.

Moderate hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months, while severe hunger refers to those who

experienced it “often” or “always” in the last three months.

Those who did not state their frequency of hunger (0.4 percent or estimated 98,000 families) were classified under moderate hunger.

Moderate hunger decreased slightly from 8.9 percent in December to 8.1 percent in March, while severe hunger decreased from 1.5 percent to 1.3 percent.

Moderate hunger in Metro Manila went down from 14.7 percent in December to 9.4 percent in March, while severe hunger in the metropolis went

down from 3.6 percent to 2.2 percent.

In the rest of Luzon, moderate hunger increased slightly from 8.3 percent in December to 8.6 percent in March. Severe hunger also rose from 1.4 percent to 1.7 percent.

Moderate hunger in Visayas also rose from 8.3 percent in December to 9.2 percent in March, while severe hunger stayed at 0.8 percent.

In Mindanao, moderate hunger in Mindanao fell from 7.2 percent in December to 5.6 percent in March. Severe hunger also decreased from 1.1 percent in December to 0.6 percent in March.