THE National Federation of Dairy Farmers and Stakeholders’ Association (Dairy NatFed) has asked the Department of Education (DepEd) to extend its school-based milk feeding program to at least 120 days from 55 days.
Danilo Fausto, Dairy NatFed president, said in a statement yesterday the extension would help provide local dairy farmers with a guaranteed market that would lead to higher income, while addressing the nutritional needs of school children.
Fausto said DepEd’s school-based feeding program (SBFP) provides hot meals to public school students for 120 days while milk is only given for 55 days in a given school year
“The National Nutrition Council (NNC) emphasizes that a feeding duration of 90 to 120 days is critical to achieving notable improvements in children’s nutrition. The NNC Governing Board, of which DepEd is a member, has recommended this,” Fausto said in his letter to Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara last January 7.
The group said the expansion and extension of DepEd’s milk feeding program has been identified by the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Philippine Dairy Industry Roadmap 2020-2025 as one of the measures that would guarantee local dairy raisers’ market and increase their income.
The move will also reduce the incidence of malnutrition among school children, the roadmap noted.
“School milk feeding in the country during the past years is characterized by lack of sustainability and limited funding. Because of this nature, the impact of school milk feeding on the domestic dairy sector is hardly felt,” Fausto said, citing the roadmap.
Dairy NatFed said for this year, DepEd has a budget of P11.776 billion for the SBFP but only a small amount is devoted for the milk feeding component.
The group said under the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act, DepEd, through the SBFP, must provide at least one fortified meal to all undernourished public elementary school students for a period of not less than 120 days in a year.
The same law mandates that fresh milk and fresh milk-based food products must be incorporated in the fortified meals and cycle menu, it added.