In the nationwide survey conducted last June 22-26 with 1,200 respondents, SWS found that 10 percent or an estimated 2.5 million families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. Hunger refers to involuntary suffering as the survey question specifies that the hunger experienced was due to lack of food to eat. SWS explained that the 10 percent national hunger rate was the sum of 8.7 percent (2.1 million families) who experienced moderate hunger and 1.3 percent (320,000 families) who experienced severe hunger. Moderate hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months, while severe hunger refers to those who experienced it “often” or “always” in the last three months. In Mindanao, moderate hunger went up from 5.6 percent in March to 7 percent in June, while severe hunger went up from 0.6 percent in March to 2 percent in June.

Source: Manila Bulletin July 22, 2019 04:52 UTC