After years of preparation, the Local Government Unit together with the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Mimaropa and the DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) finally inaugurated the start of operation of the complementary food processing facility (CFPF) in Odiongan, Romblon.
The facility is part of FNRI’s four-year DOST-funded Malnutrition Reduction Program that aims to build and operationalize complementary food production facilities in far-flung priority areas covered in the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022.
CFPF will be operated by the members of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars Association (BNSA) – Odiongan.
During the inauguration on Friday, November 9, Engr. Charlie Adona, Senior Science Research Specialist from the DOST-FNRI, said that the operators are ready for the full implementation of the CFPF after a series of technology transfer training to the Barangay Nutrition Scholars in the use of equipment and production of complementary foods.
One of the products of CFPF will be the “Nutrigold”, a complementary baby food formulation made by DOST-Mimaropa. It is made of a mix of rice, mungbean, and sesame seeds. BNSA Odiongan will also produce a new product that they say will help increase the nutrition status of Romblomanons.
In 2021, DOST Mimaropa and the BNSA Odiongan distributed nutrigold to about 50 children in Banton, Romblon, an isolated town north of Tablas wherein 25.02 percent of poverty incidence was recorded in the 2015 census.
Mayor Trina Firmalo-Famic of the Odiongan, during the inauguration, said that she would help BNSA in marketing their product to other local government units.
LGU helps the establishment of the CFPF by providing the building, electricity, and other operational equipment in the area.
