Philippines Delegation Participates in Field Trip

Members of the House of Representatives and the Department of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines were in Brazil from 6 to 10 July, to learn about the Brazilian policies and programmes on zero hunger and smallholder farming. The visit was part of the cooperation between Brazil and the Philippines.

 Philippines delegation visits flower market at CEASA

On Monday, 6 July, the delegation visited the WFP Centre of Excellence to attend lectures that provided a historical overview of the Brazilian initiatives to fight hunger, like the Zero Hunger Strategy and the Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer programme. Later, they learned about school feeding in Brazil with Isabel Cristina Almeida, from the Brazilian National Council for Nutrition (CFN).

The Philippine delegation participated in a field trip organized by the Centre on July 10. They visited Brasília’s Centre for Food Supply (CEASA), to understand how the food-related policies are integrated to food supply efforts in Brazil, and to get to know different initiatives to support smallholder farmers and vulnerable populations, such as the public food bank. The food bank receives food donations from producers and retailers as part of a programme to combat food waist and delivers it to social assistance institutions. It also receives food purchased through the Food Acquisition Programme (PAA) from smallholder farmers.

After the visit to CEASA, the delegation had lunch in a popular restaurant. The popular restaurants are public facilities that serve balanced meals for low prices (around US$ 0.30 per meal). There are 13 popular restaurants in the Federal District, located in the communities vulnerable to food insecurity. The restaurants are subsidized by the local government and are managed by private companies that have the obligation to buy some of the food items from smallholder farmers.

Praveen Agrawal, WFP country director to the Philippines, thanked the nutritionists of the popular restaurant for their explanation: “I would like to thank you for this amazing experience. I’m impressed by the dedication and professionalism with which you run this initiative”.

“There is nothing like this in the Philippines. That is why we looked to Brazil for assistance. I we manage to replicate this experience there it will help many people”, said congresswoman Leni Gerona Robredo during the lunch in the popular restaurant.

Besides the activities organized by the Centre, the Philippine delegation also attended meetings with the National Council for food and Nutrition Security (CONSEA), the National Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (SESAN) of the Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger (MDS), and the National Fund for the Development of Education (FNDE).

They also participated in the Seminar on the role of parliamentarians in promoting public policies of Food and Nutritional Security and Human Right to Adequate Food. The Centre of Excellence has hosted a study visit for the Philippines in 2013.

 Source: www.wfp.org Date Accessed: 13 July 2015

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