SWS: Hunger rate fall to lowest in 10 years

Street children in Cebu. / Wikipedia Photo

MANILA — The Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported on its latest survey that the country’s hunger rate fell to 13.5 percent, the lowest recorded rate in 10 years.

The report published in the newspaper, Business World, means that only about three million families in  the first quarter this year go hungry in the Philippines.

The survey was taken from March 20 to 23 this year and 13.5 percent of the total respondents said they are experiencing hunger at least once in the past three months.

The said rate is lower than the 17.2 percent (at about 3.8 million families) last December 2014.

Visayas recorded the biggest drop from 16.4 percent (an estimated 690,000 families) to 11 percent (470,000 families).

Hunger incidence in Mindanao also fell three points to 14.3 percent, or 726,000 families, from December’s 17.3 percent (867,000 families).

Luzon also recorded a decline at 14.3 percent, or about 1.4 million families, from December’s 18.3 percent (1.8 million families).

The survey indicated that n estimated 2.5 million families or 11.1 percent experienced “moderate hunger,” or lacking food to eat “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months.

“Hunger fell among the poor, the food-poor, the non-poor and the non-food-poor,” the SWS noted.