Total hunger subsides to 9.1% in Q3 of 2019 — SWS

MANILA, Philippines – Around 9.1 percent of Filipino families have experienced involuntary hunger — or hunger due to lack of food to eat — at least once in the third quarter of 2019, a survey from the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

According to SWS which released the survey results on Wednesday night, this amounts to roughly 2.3 million Filipino families. This is the sum of 7.4 percent (1.8 million families) who experienced moderate hunger, and 1.7 percent (426,000 families) who went through severe hunger.

SWS explained that moderate hunger “refers to those who experienced hunger ‘Only Once’ or ‘A Few Times’ in the last three months,” while severe hunger means experiencing hunger “‘Often’ or ‘Always’ in the last three months.”

The hunger rate, obtained from September 27 to 30, is down compared to the 10 percent or 2.5 million hungry Filipino families recorded in June 2019.

Moderate hunger figures went down from the 8.7 percent (2.1 million families) in June 2019, although severe hunger went up by 1.3 percent (320,000 families).

Still, the 9.1 percent rate is the lowest under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, after it peaked to 15.9 percent in December 2017.

SWS said the survey used face to face interviews with of 1,800 adults — 600 each from Balance Luzon and Mindanao, and 300 each from Metro Manila and Visayas. Sampling errors of ±2.3% for national percentages, ±4% each for Balance Luzon and Mindanao, and ±6% each for Metro Manila and the Visayas were used.

Respondents were asked whether they experienced hunger and had nothing to eat at least once in the past three months, and those who experienced hunger were further asked if it occurred once, several times, often, or most of the time.

More hungry families in Mindanao

The survey also revealed that the hunger rate in Metro Manila decreased from 15.7 percent to 8.3 percent — or a difference of 520,000 families in June 2019 to 276,000 families in September 2019.

The numbers also decreased in Balance Luzon, from 9.3 percent or 1 million families to 8.1 percent or 893,000 families. However, the hunger rates for Mindanao increased by 2.9 percentage points, from 9.0 percent or 508,000 families in June to 11.9 percent or 673,000 families in September.

Hunger rates also fell among families who rated themselves as poor, from 16.2 percent or 1.8 million families in June 2019 to 14.0 percent or 1.4 million families in September 2019. Both figures though are still relatively high compared to March 2019 numbers, which were at 11.9 percent or 1.1 million families.

However, the numbers increased among families who do not consider themselves as poor. According to the survey, 5.6 percent or 805,000 families recently experienced hunger, in contrast to the 4.9 percent or 664,000 families recorded in June 2019. /je