By Alec Go
Around 2.7 million or 9.8% of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months, a recent survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
The percentage of Filipinos who experienced hunger “and not having anything to eat” is lower than the 11.8% or 3 million families in December 2022 and the 11.3% or 2.9 million families in October 2022.
The SWS noted that this was still higher than 8.8% in December 2019 or before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on the survey, hunger is highest in Mindanao at 11.7%, followed by Metro Manila at 10.7%, Visayas at 9.7%, and Balance Luzon at 8.7%.
“The 2.0-point decline in Overall Hunger between December 2022 and March 2023 was due to decreases in all areas, more noticeable in Balance Luzon and the Visayas than in Metro Manila and Mindanao,” the SWS noted.
Of the total hunger rate this March, 8.6% experienced moderate hunger and 1.2% had severe hunger.
The survey was conducted from March 26 to 29 this year through face-to-face interviews on 1,200 adults. – cf
