Philippines: New Partnerships for Renewed Progress

2020 was a year of physical distance, but not necessarily a year spent apart.

In fact, FFI found that COVID-19 challenges strengthened existing connections and inspired new partnerships. This became particularly true in the Philippines, where stalled advocacy efforts were reinvigorated with the help of a new partner—Effective Altruism (EA) Philippines.

Five years ago, FFI was able to successfully advocate for a resolution to add folic acid to the Philippines’ existing wheat flour fortification standard. However, efforts stalled in 2019 when one of the resolution’s review committees asked for local stability studies of folic acid in wheat flour and products—even though stability studies already exist and evaluations post-fortification with folic acid have demonstrated reductions in neural tube defects, indicating that folic acid is retained in the food to cause a health impact.

In an effort to restart the advocacy conversation, FFI invited members from EA Philippines to advocate for folic acid fortification through social media and news outlets, blogs and petitions, and letters to government leadership. Though there are no changes in the national standards yet, FFI and the EA volunteers are hopeful that their voices will gain traction.

Founded by a group of Filipinos passionate about making large-scale social impact, EA Philippines is a chapter of the global Effective Altruism movement. The movement uses evidence and reasoning to identify the most effective ways to benefit others. Fortification of staple foods is championed by the EA movement as an effective, large-scale intervention to improve the nutrition of populations at relatively little cost.