A senior Japanese diplomat visited farm-to-school meals program sites in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) last week, underscoring Japan’s support for a school feeding initiative aimed at tackling the country’s highest child malnutrition and stunting rates.
From January 12 to 14, 2026, Hidenori Akasaka, First Secretary and Agriculture Attaché of Japan, conducted field visits to communities and schools participating in the Farm-to-School Meals Programme, a project implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) with funding from the Government of Japan.
During the visit, Akasaka paid a courtesy call on BARMM Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal, where both sides reaffirmed their commitment to sustaining the program.
Akasaka thanked the ministry for its support, while Iqbal expressed appreciation for Japan’s continuing development assistance in the region.
The Japanese official also visited the Upi Organic Farming Agriculture Cooperative and the Masabar Producers Cooperative, farmer groups that supply produce to schools covered by the program.
Under the farm-to-school model, local farmers are directly linked to school feeding communities, giving them a stable and reliable market while ensuring that school meals use fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
The project also provides capacity-building support to help farmers improve productivity, food quality, and sustainability.
In meetings with farmers, Akasaka encouraged them to build on the skills and knowledge gained through the project to improve their livelihoods, while continuing to support the delivery of nutritious meals to children.
The Japanese official also visited Campo Cuatro Elementary School in Datu Abdullah Sangki, one of the beneficiary schools, where he met students, teachers, and local government officials.
Addressing the students, Akasaka highlighted the importance of balanced, nutritious meals for health, growth, and academic performance, and urged them to study hard and pursue their dreams.
Japan is contributing about $5 million (₱250–281 million) to the BARMM Farm-to-School Meals Programme, implemented with WFP over three years.
The project aims to provide daily nutritious meals to around 10,000 primary schoolchildren, while integrating about 5,000 smallholder farming and fishing households into the school meals supply chain, bringing total direct and indirect beneficiaries to an estimated 15,000 to 35,000 people.
The visit comes amid persistent nutrition challenges in BARMM, which has the highest child stunting rate in the Philippines at about 45 percent, far above the national average of around 26 to 27 percent.
By combining school feeding with local food production, the Japan-supported program seeks to address chronic undernutrition while strengthening livelihoods and local food systems in the region.