MANILA, Philippines – The vegetables and other crops people grow in
their backyards might be the answer to ending malnutrition in their
local communities.
The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), in partnership with
the World Food Programme (WFP), recently concluded its test production
of complementary food using locally-available ingredients.
According to the World Health Organization, this is used to provide nutrients to children, especially when breastfeeding no longer meets the required nutritents intake.
Supervising Science Research Specialist Joyce Tobias said that the
expensive imported fortified complementary food used by the WFP pushed
them to find another option.
“Mahal ang imported kaya hindi advisable na laging iyon ang gamitin,” she explained. (It’s not advisable to always use imported food because they’re expensive.)
The new complementary food costs only P7 per sachet and P75 per pep
bottle. A pack already contains more than half of the nutrient
requirements of a child per day.
Our backyard can do a lot of things aside from growing local crops. It is also very useful in raising live stocks such as chickens, goats, pigs and even backyard cattle raising can also be done.
Of course a proper handling should be done or else the vegetables and other crops would end up being consumed by farm animals :).
