THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday welcomed Malacañang’s issuance of a memorandum circular directing all government agencies and instrumentalities to support the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) Program.
“As chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, the DSWD expresses its gratitude to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr for recognizing the significance of the initiatives of the EPAHP Program,” DSWD Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao said in a statement.
Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said the circular will fast track the implementation of anti-hunger initiatives and ensure that these efforts will achieve results with the whole government working together and sharing resources.
Signed on April 19 by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, MC 47 also encourages all local government units (LGUs) to support the implementation of anti-hunger and poverty programs of the government.
“All national government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and government financial institutions (GFIs), are hereby directed, and all LGUs are hereby encouraged, to extend full support and cooperation to the Task Force on Zero Hunger relative to the implementation of the EPAHP Program,” the MC read.
Based on the MC, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger (IATF-ZH) chaired by the DSWD “shall strengthen institutional feeding programs of partner agencies; extend credit assistance to support food production, processing, and distribution in partnership with GFls, such as the Landbank-EPAHP Lending Program; and implement policies that will engage the private sector, and institutionalize mechanisms in LGUs.”
President Marcos also directed the members of the IATF-ZH to link participating community-based organizations (CBOs) to prospective markets; enhance the provision of farm production technologies and extension of services to government-assisted family farms and rural-based organizations; adopt community participation procurement to encourage CBOs to participate in the EPAHP Program; and construct, repair, and improve irrigation facilities and appurtenant structures in irrigable areas in the countryside.
The EPAHP Program led by the DSWD aims to institutionalize efforts to mitigate hunger and promote food and nutrition security by linking CBOs to prospective markets and providing credit assistance to support food production, processing, and distribution.
The EPAHP is one of the banner programs of the IATF-ZH, which was implemented in 2019 with 29 partner agencies.