Launching Ceremony of the Complementary Food Production Center (CFPC) in Kidapawan City took place on April 8, 2021 at Brgy. Magsaysay.

The facility is a DOST XII-assisted project of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Kidapawan, adopting the developed Complementary Food Technologies of the DOST-FNRI (Food and Nutrition Research Institute).

According to DOST XII Regional Director Sammy Malawan, CFPC is one of the solutions to address prevalence of malnutrition among children worsened by the previous natural calamities and the current pandemic not only in the city but also in neighboring towns of Cotabato Province.

Nutritious snacks like Fortified BIMON (short for bigas-mongo) instant Baby Food Blend with Iron and Zinc as well as BIMON Curls can be mass produced in the facility.

In his message at the ceremony, City Mayor Joseph Evangelista advised Ms. Melanie Espina, City Nutrition Action Officer (NAO) and CFPC In-Charge to come up with a plan of encouraging communities to bring raw materials for processing at the center, FOR FREE, in support to the government’s Supplementary Feeding Program.

“Makakaasa po kayo na buo ang suporta namin sa DOST XII hindi lamang hanggang sa pagbigay ng mga processing equipment [more than 1.7M] kundi pati narin sa pagkakaloob ng consultancy services gaya ng Manufacturing Productivity Extension Program or MPEX, Energy Audit, Cleaner Production and Food Safety. Gayon din sa aspeto ng Packaging and Labeling. At bukas po ang aming Regional Standards and Testing Laboratory sa Koronadal para sa kakailanganing tests and analyses ng inyong produkto”, RD Malawan said.

Acknowledging the importance of science and technology, research and development for socio-economic growth and sustainability, Mayor Evangelista expressed his commendation saying “DOST has been doing a wonderful job”, and added, “Rest assured that we will put in bigger budget for this [CFPC operating expenses] for next year”.

To date, DOST XII has been assisting two (2) CFPC. The other one is with Sultan Kudarat State University as the pioneering facility in the region with 200kg (rice + mungbean) average processing capacity in a day.