Saturday, May 26, 2007 Roperos: Hunger before us By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
WEEKS ago, a forum attended by reporters and government information officers had as guest agriculture department regional head Ed Lecciones, who said that Filipinos this year are projected to number almost 89 million.
Slowing down population growth has always been the bone of contention between public health people and some leaders of the church.
Government has long wanted to implement various modes of intervention to cut down population growth rate from about 3 percent in the ‘70s to about 2 percent or less, and handle runaway population rise. But the Church opposes population control methods other than the natural one: rhythm.
And so the Philippine’s population continues to grow. With population estimated to hit the 90 million mark at the end of the decade, it would not be remiss to say that, by 2020, Filipinos would be a hundred million souls.
It is a staggering number, if you ask me. And Lecciones was right to express concern over the state of Central Visayas, which in November had a 19-point hunger rate.
The rate, Lecciones said, went down by about 4-point difference in April. But he said that a number of things are going against the region’s struggle against poverty, one of which he jokingly pointed out is “fertility in poverty.”
Indeed, if social workers in the towns are asked about pregnancy rate among high school girls, the answer could be worrisome. And most of the blame is heaped on television shows and commercials with sexually suggestive messages.
One other problem Lecciones noted in his talk was that food production is expected to lag behind population growth. While the demand for food increases, the land area that produces food is either reduced or remains the same.
With rising population, there will also be a steady increase in demand for additional housing, which then implies conversion of more agricultural lands into housing and industrial areas to meet the needs of an increasing population.
Which is the reason why the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the region is trying its best to increase---although it won’t work if the population continues to rise---the region’s food production capability.
Actually, the country’s agricultural productivity, according to the DA, is not far behind other nations in Asia. The only difference is that the demand for food here is much higher.
To solve the problem, leaders must come to a meeting of minds and undertake a serious population control program.
