Filipinos were told to boost their immunity by drinking milk – there wasn’t any

With the onset of COVID-19, authorities in the Philippines told Filipinos they could boost their immune system by drinking milk. The problem was the supply of milk had been cut off.

The Philippines only produces five percent of its milk needs. 95% of their milk is imported. Communities were in complete lock-down to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and this impacted the availability of imported food, including milk.

The shortage of food left remote villages in Central Mindanao vulnerable to malnutrition and starvation. Fortunately, Noble Endeavours has given local families the training they need to grow their own food. Excess milk from our farms was also distributed to local families until the food supply was restored. Thankfully, there were no deaths from starvation in our communities throughout 2020.

Despite the challenges, Noble Endeavours has been able to boost child nutrition in our communities at this crucial time. Our goat development program continued to grow throughout 2020 and Noble Endeavours became a major supplier to the Department of Education, providing milk to their feeding program. The Milking Goat Project began feeding 2,000 children in local schools and there are plans to double that number in the near future.

The events of 2020 have proved that our remote communities in the Philippines can become resilient to even the greatest challenges.