Bicol’s food processing facility produces low-cost baby food, snacks

PILI, Camarines Sur — The Department of Science and Technology inaugurated recently the first medium-scale complementary food processing facility in the Bicol region to help solve malnutrition and alleviate poverty in this province.

Science Assistant Secretary Urduja Tejada led the inauguration of the P2-million food processing facility on Wednesday last week at the Central Bicol University of Agriculture (CBSUA).  The facility has been set up to produce baby food and snacks made from a blend of rice, mongo and sesame, which are locally produced here.

Tejada, also the DOST’s project manager for countryside development, said that hopefully, the new processing facility would help curb malnutrition, one of the most prevalent problems in the country and in this province. Data from the DOST show that of Bicol’s six provinces, Camarines Sur ranks second with the most number of malnourished children.

The facility is the fifth to be inaugurated in the country following those opened in the cities of Tuguegarao and General Santos, and the provinces of Batangas and Palawan. In the Bicol region, the local government of nearby Iriga has been operating since April last year a small-scale version of the facility in the city’s Barangay San Augustin, and sells the baby food blend for P5 per single-serving pack.

According to Tejada, the rice, mongo and sesame baby food blend that was developed by the DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute is “more affordable and nutritious” than its commercial counterparts. The mix contains the vital nutrients needed by children aged 0 to 3, such as protein found in mongo beans, carbohydrates that is in the rice grain, and zinc and calcium that are in the sesame seeds, Tejada has explained.

Georgina Bordado, CBSUA president, said malnutrition has persisted in this agricultural town because low-income families could not afford the nutritious food needed by the children. Malnourished children end up being poor most of their lives, according to Bordado.

“Malnourished children are said to be poor learners in school. Poor learning results to them being unskilled and with no functional literacy, thus limiting their opportunities for gainful employment,” Bordado said.

She added that through the facility, not only would they be able to solve malnutrition and address poverty, they could also boost the livelihood of local farmers by sourcing the raw materials from them. The facility is expected to produce 30 kilograms of the baby food mix daily.

Bordado said the facility would be fully operational by June this year, after the completion of staff training on how to use it. Following a pilot run in this town’s Barangay San Jose, she revealed the plan to cater to nearby municipalities such as Lagonoy, Tigaon and Gainza, which reported that at least 22 percent of their children aged 6 and below have been found underweight.  SFM