Press Release
July 26, 2014

VILLAR WAS KEYNOTE SPEAKER
IN IRRI 2014 NUTRITION MONTH CELEBRATION

SENATOR Cynthia A. Villar, chairperson of the Senate Agriculture and Food Committee, was the Keynote Speaker in the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) celebration of the 2014 Nutrition Month this July.

She talked on "The Role of Agriculture in Nutrition" in the said event held last July 23, 2014 at the DL Umali Building, IRRI Headquarters in Los Banos, Laguna.

The senator said she believes agriculture plays a significant role to improve public health and nutrition by addressing cases of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency.

She said the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) pegged at $3.5 trillion per year globally the economic costs of malnutrition due to lost productivity and direct health care costs.

While no global estimates of the economic costs of overweight and obesity due to micronutrient deficiency (a form of undernutrition) exist, FAO said the cumulative cost of all non communicable diseases, for which obesity is a leading risk factor, were estimated to be about $1.4 trillion in 2010.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980. In 2008, more than 10% of the world's adult population, or 1.4 billion adults are obese. In 2012, more than 40 million children under the age of 5 were obese.

"The state of micronutrient and malnutrition is quite alarming. So I commend IRRI for their initiatives to enhance the nutritional content of rice, which is widely grown and eaten not only in the Philippines but in other parts of the world," she said.

In the Philippines, the former three-term congresswoman of Las Pinas City related that rice can be seen in every table of a Filipino family.

"Almost all Filipinos are eating rice. Some cannot even take their meals without rice. It is our staple food so I believe IRRI's move to enhance the nutritional content of rice and come out with healthier varieties is very much a welcome development," she said.

She emphasized that because rice has the potential of reaching many Filipinos, healthier rice varieties will be a big boost to addressing these health concerns and improving public health.

IRRI also noted that gains from increased farm productivity and income will be more amplified and obtain more benefits if the health and nutrition of the population, especially the most vulnerable communities, will improve.

As a development institution, IRRI is developing rice varieties that have more iron, zinc, and beta-carotene.

IRRI is likewise strengthening its "Healthier Rice Program" that intends to help fight the prevalence of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency.

To be an effective tool against micronutrient deficiency, FAO said agriculture and food-based interventions should also focus on developing healthier rice varieties.

Since rice is the dominant cereal crop in most Asian countries and is the staple food for more than half of the world's population, including many of those living in poverty, even a small increase in the micronutrient content of the rice gains could have a significant impact on health.

"FAO espouses taking a food system-based approach wherein all people, institutions, and processes through which food products are produced, processed, and brought to consumers are all geared towards solving micronutrient deficiency," said Villar.

In the Senate, Villar has been pushing for more agriculture-related measures to benefit all stakeholders in the industry.

News Latest News Feed