SWS: Estimated 4.2 million Filipino families got hungry in past 3 months

At least 4.2 million Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger over the past three months as the hunger rate in the Philippines increased, results of a Social Weather Stations survey showed.

The SWS said results of the poll conducted from April 28, 2021 to May 2, 2021showed that 16.8% Filipino families experienced hunger due to lack of food to eat at least once in the past three months.

The data for May 2021 is higher by 0.8 percentage points from the November 2020 hunger rate of 16%. An estimated four million families experienced involuntary hunger at that time.

"It is 4.3 points below the 2020 annual average of 21.1% but still double the December 2019 pre-pandemic level of 8.8% (estimated 2.1 million families)," the SWS said.

Out of the 16.8% hunger rate, SWS said 14.1% or 3.6 million families said they experienced moderate hunger and 2.7% or 674,000 experienced severe hunger.

Moderate hunger refers to those who went hungry once or a few times in the last three months while severe hunger refers to those who experienced it often or always in the past three months, the pollster explained.

Comparing figures from November 2020 to May 2021, overall hunger increased among self-rated poor from 21.7% to 23.5%, according to SWS.

Overall hunger among non-poor, meanwhile, climbed from 10.6%  in November 2020 to 10.3% May 2021, SWS said.

Also, overall hunger went up among self-rated food-poor from 28.1% in November 2020 to 32.9% in May 2021.

It decreased by 1.2 points among the Non-Food-Poor from 10.5% in November last year to 9.3% in May 2021.

The non-commissioned survey has respondents of 1,200 Filipino adults, with 300 each from Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Sampling error margins were at ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The survey question on Hunger rate were asked, “In the last three months, did it happen even once that your family experienced hunger and not have anything to eat? (YES, NO)”

Those who experienced Hunger were also asked, “Did it happen ONLY ONCE, A FEW TIMES, OFTEN, or ALWAYS?”

A recent United Nations report showed an estimated 18% increase in the number of people facing hunger, which was attributed to the coronavirus disease pandemic.

The report warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could affect the world's goal of curbing hunger by 2030.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles had said the Philippine government was looking to cut the hunger rate by half amid the rising prices of basic goods. —NB, GMA News