The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has expanded the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) to reach more children nationwide, alongside an increased budget allocation for 2026 to support wider geographic coverage and a longer feeding period .

The SFP’s expansion reflects the DSWD’s commitment to improving the nutritional status of children aged two to five years old who are enrolled in Child Development Centers (CDCs) and Supervised Neighborhood Playgroups (SNPs), in line with the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) and the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023–2028.

From 2025 to 2026, the SFP’s coverage increased from 1,583,316 children to 1,899,415 covering 735 to 864 municipalities, with the number of covered CDCs rising from 29,094 to 32,230 in priority PPAN areas.

In provinces with high poverty incidence, the number of covered CDCs also increased from 5,284 in 2025 to 7,824 in 2026. The expansion ensures that more undernourished children in geographically and economically vulnerable communities receive regular and additional nutritional support.

Program performance in recent years showed consistently high accomplishment rates. In 2024, the SFP served 99.17 percent of the annual target as compared to 2025 wherein the program exceeded the annual target by reaching 100.25 percent accomplishment.

The SFP’s milk feeding sub-program was able to reach out to more than 100,000 children annually, underscoring the importance of continued investment and expansion.

Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao, the DSWD’s spokesperson, said the increase in funding directly supports the broader scope and longer implementation period of the program.

“The expansion of the Supplementary Feeding Program, particularly the extension to 180 feeding days and the inclusion of more municipalities and child development centers, required a corresponding increase in budget to ensure that services remain adequate, timely, and responsive to the needs of undernourished children,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said on Wednesday (February 4).

The increase in budget allocation from Php5,031,989,760 to Php9,261,216,900 was driven primarily by the extension of the feeding period from 120 days to 180 days starting in 2026.

The longer feeding duration is intended to provide more sustained nutritional intervention, improve growth outcomes, and address persistent undernutrition among young children.

“Ongoing ang efforts ng DSWD na palakasin ang partnership with LGUs para masigurong maayos ang implementation, nitong Supplementary Feeding Program. Pinapalakas din ng Departamento ang Supervised Neighborhood Playgroups para ma-reach natin ang mga batang hindi naka-enroll sa Child Development Centers especially those who are undernourished.” Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao said.

“We are also strengthening the capacity of child development workers and parents to support proper feeding and growth monitoring through the conduct of Parent Effectiveness Sessions, and promoting greater community participation, including support to local farmers and producers as sources of feeding commodities,” the DSWD spokesperon added.

With the expansion of the program, the SFP is expected to further contribute to improved child nutrition outcomes and support national efforts to combat hunger and undernutrition among Filipino children. (KI)