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ACHIEVING the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of
reducing poverty and malnutrition by 2015 may be a tall
order for the Philippines, as a new World Bank report
projected the country’s population will soar to 101
million by 2015.
Based on
the 2008 World Development Indicators report released by
the World Bank, the population may increase by 35.8
percent by 2015 from the 86.3 million it projected in
2006.
This
increase in population is projected to be higher even as
malnutrition continues to persist in the
Philippines.
The World Bank noted that malnutrition especially among
children below five years old, remains high in the
country.
The rate
of population increase projected by the World Bank is
consistent with the government’s projections. The
National Statistics Office (NSO) projects that the
average rate of population increase is at 2 percent per
year.
While
the government has yet to release the latest official
census, the NSO projects that population for 2008 is at
90.4 million.
The
government itself has admitted that the growth in
population is one reason it is now having a hard time
making food supply adequate for its people.
Malacañang has admitted that it needs to review the
population-management policies in light of a looming
food crisis not only in the Philippines but also
worldwide.
The
International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri)
earlier warned that high food prices will place the
nutrition of the poor at risk.
In
effect, higher food prices could make it harder for
developing countries like the Philippines to meet the
MDG of significantly reducing malnutrition by 2015.
At the
household level, Ifpri said the poor spend about 50
percent to 60 percent of their overall budget on food.
The Ifpri estimated that for a five-person household
living on $1 per person per day, a 50-percent increase
in food prices removes up to $1.50 from their $5 budget.
The
latest MDG midterm report commissioned by the Asian
Development Bank, United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for
Asia and the Pacific and the United Nations Development Programme
showed that the
Philippines may not achieve the MDG on malnutrition.
The
report said the country is slow in decreasing the number
of underweight children under the first goal on halving
poverty.
The
report also showed the country is slow in decreasing the
number of Filipinos living on $1 a day and providing
access to clean water in rural areas and improving
sanitation in rural areas.
Further,
the report said the country needs to work on the targets
on primary enrollment, children reaching Grade 5 under
goal 2; and the targets on forest cover, carbon-dioxide
emissions and access to clean water in urban areas under
goal 7, where it has been regressing or showed no
progress at all. |
