TO ADDRESS malnutrition among children aged six months to 23 months old, the Department of Agrarian Reform along with the National Nutrition Council and Salvacion Farmers Development Cooperative launched the “Tutok Kainan Supplementation Program” in Sorsogon.

TKSP is a complementation of nutrition-specific with nutrition-sensitive interventions focusing on the first 1,000 days of a child’s life by improving the quality and increasing the quantity of food and nutrient intake.

Nida Santiago, Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officier II, said the program, to start in October 2021, covers the entire province.

It will be implemented under the Enhanced Partnership against Hunger and Poverty with a budget of P3,280,795.

“The project area covers 285 barangays with a total of 1,367 babies aged 6 to 23 months old. This kind of engagement with institutional buyers provides an incentive to our ARBs and the ARBOs to produce their respective crops since there is a ready market,” Santiago said.

Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Arlene Reario emphasized that the program aims to improve the nutritional status of infants and young children.

“This is a critical period in which they are at risk to irreversible damage to cognitive and physical development, as well as to ensure optimal growth and development of infants and young children, and to prevent the intergenerational effects of stunting,” Reario said.

Meanwhile, SAFADECO General Manager Jessica Samantha Acleta thanked DAR and NNC for the opportunity to be a part of the iniative.

“This is a very opportune time for small farmers, ARBOs and cooperative members to be linked to institutional markets,” Acleta said