Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) — The number of families who have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months dropped to 9.8% or an estimated 2.7 million in March 2023, a survey found.
This is a decrease from the involuntary hunger of 11.8%, or about 3 million families, observed in December 2022 by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
However, the March 2023 figure of 9.8% is still higher than the involuntary hunger prevalence of 8.8% (2.1 million families) seen in December 2019 or before the pandemic, the survey said.
According to the SWS, the figure of 9.8% of Filipino families who experienced involuntary hunger is the sum of two values:
— First, 8.6% of families, or about 2.3 million, who experienced moderate hunger or those who went hungry \”only once\” or \”a few times\” in the past few months.
— Second, 1.2% of families, or 340,000, who faced \”severe hunger.\” This group was described as \”often\” or \”always\” hungry in the past three months.
The survey found that most of the involuntary hunger was observed in Mindanao at 11.7%, or 721,000 families.
Behind Mindanao was Metro Manila at 10.7% or 397,000 families, the Visayas at 9.7% or 499,000 families, and Balance Luzon with 8.7% or 1.1 million families.
