Delivering Essential Nutrition Services Through Community Action in the Philippines

The Philippines government has made significant progress in addressing malnutrition through focused public policies and investments in community-level systems. However, malnutrition remains a significant challenge, particularly in poor urban and rural areas. This report examines the roles of community-based workers in providing nutrition services and how they can be leveraged to expand essential nutrition services.

The findings indicate that three of the seven main community cadres primarily provide nutrition services: the Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS), Barangay Health Workers (BHW), and Mother Support Groups. While essential nutrition interventions are covered in community service packages, the effectiveness of community cadres is hindered by high workloads, inadequate training, and inconsistent supervision. Local implementation variability remains a challenge. To enhance the effectiveness of community nutrition interventions and ensure consistent, high-quality nutrition services across all regions, it is recommended to establish minimum standards for community nutrition service packages. Additionally, the report recommends prioritizing competency-based preservice training for community cadres to equip them with the necessary skills to implement standardized service packages effectively.