RECAP

Siargao towns agree to jointly protect marine areas

THE

The PhilCCAP Newsletter | First Quarter, 2015

PHILCCAPat a glance

A ferry is docked at Siargao’s main port in Dapa town as the island was put under Public Storm Signal No. 1 on December 5. Photo by Horace Cimafranca

Continued on Page 2

also Inside

Portrait of an Upland Farmer

The Philippines Climate Change Adaptation Project, or PhilCCAP, is a project supported under a grant agreement between the government and the World Bank. The project aims are divided into three components:

Strengthening the enabling environment for climate change adaptation (CCA)

This component will provide the necessary policy support for the integration of CCA into the agricultural and natural resources sectors. The Climate Change Commission is responsible for developing the overall CCA Framework and guiding its implementation across government institutions.

Demonstrating CCA Strategies in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Sector

This component will demonstrate adaptation methods through the implementation of field-level activities such as climate-proofing irrigation structures, enhancing delivery and effectiveness of extension services for farm-level climate risk management, pilot-testing the feasibility of weather index-based crop insurance and strengthening climate change resilience through improved management of protected areas.

A fourth component deals with the management and the monitoring of the project.

The Official Newsletter of the Philippines Climate Change Adaptation ProjectThe Recap is released quarterly and covers the developments of PhilCCAP’s subprojects. This is The Recap’s first issue.

Enhancing Provision of Scientific Information for Climate Risk Management

This component will improve the access to more reliable scientific information by end-users in the agricultural and natural resources sectors, enabling them to make more rapid and accurate decisions for climate risk management.

on the next issuepartners’ corner

development updates

Stories and musings from our consultants and agencies at work

An in-depth look into each of PhilCCAP’s subprojects and how they are doing now

project management teamThe project management office (PMO) is primarily responsible for the project’s coordination. It ensures that all of the efforts and resources of the agencies involved are aligned towards the achievement of the project’s objectives. The PMO is situated at the FASPS Annex Building, DENR Central Office, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.

(RIGHT: From L to R) Project Operations Control Officer Gretchen Cerio, Project Evaluation Officer (PEO) Bey de Castro, Project Manager Wilbur Dee, PEO Kurt Austria, Administrative Aide Vincent Binghoy and Information Education and Communication Officer Horace Cimafranca.

SANTA MONICA, SURIGAO DEL NORTE Despite a supertyphoon brewing on the Pacific just east of Siargao, representatives from all of the island’s nine municipalities gathered for a consultation on the drafting of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) concerning the management of the towns’ respective Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

The MOA will establish a networking system covering all the MPAs in Siargao Island. The networking will centralize the management of the MPAs to a single body, which will be responsible for the funding, policy review and monitoring, among other things, of all of the island’s marine protected areas.

The drafting of the MOA was initiated by PhilCCAP, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to ensure the sustenance of its subprojects. These subprojects, which include alternative livelihood for fisherfolks and mangrove

rehabilitation, were formulated to secure the MPAs from degradation. PhilCCAP stressed that strengthening the MPAs and providing a more environment-friendly alternate source of income for the fisherfolks would help the local communities adapt to the effects of climate change. The December 3 to 4 meeting at Denaville Resort provided an opportunity for Siargao’s nine towns to report on the current status of each town’s MPA. The reports included future plans set by the local government units and also identified the problems that need to be addressed.

Notably, most of the MPAs did not have an existing management plan and have mostly relied on non-government organizations, and initiatives such as PhilCCAP, to provide capacity-building services to the LGUs and the local people’s organizations.

PhilCCAP and regional DENR officers visited beneficiaries of the Project’s seaweed farming program in General Luna, Surigao del Norte on December 8 to offer assistance and financial advise. With overfishing threatening the local marine resources, PhilCCAP funded the reestablishment of a seaweed farm in the community as an alternative source of livelihood. Seaweed harvested from the farms has been collected by a firm in Cebu which processes seaweed into its exported by-products, such as the gel substance used in making toothpastes. As a whole, the region of Mindanao contributes about 50% of the national seaweed output, with the industry expected to grow in the next few years.

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Participants discuss areas for improvement in managing protected areas at a meeting in Santa Monica, SiargaoPhoto by Horace Cimafranca

Siargao towns agree to jointly protect marine areas

(From Page 1) After the reporting, the participants underwent a workshop where common issues were identified and solutions were discussed in a plenary session. They agreed to pass resolutions requesting national government agencies such as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the DENR to provide financial and technical support for the MPAs, free education and training for the local fisherfolks and capacity-building programs for the communities and the local government.

The assessment from the workshop became the basis for the comments on the draft of

the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on MPA networking.

A revised draft of the MOA was prepared on the second day of consultation, taking into account the issues raised by different representatives, such as those concerning funding and rule enforcement. The revision bestowed the function of allocating funds, reviewing MPA policies, formulating management plans and linking with law enforcement agencies upon the MPA network. It was then agreed that the MOA signing would take place early in 2015.

The representatives present, mostly municipal environment and natural

resources officers, were joined by members of the Coast Guard and the local police.

The second day of the consultation was also attended by three municipal mayors: Mayor Lucio Gonzales of Pilar, Mayor Emmanuel Arcenas of Burgos and Mayor Alfredo Coro of Del Carmen.

In 1996, Siargao Island was declared a protected landscape and seascape through Proclamation No. 602 signed by then President Fidel Ramos. SIPLAS (Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape), as the protected area is collectively called, includes mangrove forests and marine areas, and spans about 280,000 hectares.

PHILCCAP MEETS WITHSEAWEED FARM BENEFICIARIES

Photo by Horace Cimafranca

portrait of an

uplandDuring farming season, Myrna wakes up as early as 4:00 in the morning to embark on a three-kilometer foot exercise to an upland corn farm she shares with her husband, Baylon. Farming is a very tedious task, and it requires bending one’s back for hours against the blazing sun. In Cagayan, where the farm is situated, that also means having to deal with adverse conditions exacerbated by its peculiar topography.

3The PhilCCAP Newsletter | Fourth Quarter, 2014

farmer

Myrna’s routine begins in the wee hours of the morning. Before daybreak, she and her husband Baylon walk the dirt road leading to the hills that surround their little rural community. From there, a narrow passage that hardly resembles a path weaves through grasslands and muddy slopes to a wide clearing where they plant rows of corn year after year. “We’re here in the farm early in the morning,” Myrna shares. “So we’ll be able to avoid the sweltering heat. We have to be here before 6:00 (am).”

When asked about what time they return to their home, she quips, “Sometimes, we hike down if we run out of gas (for cooking) or food up here. When we go up, we make sure that we already have everything we need.” Apparently, during planting season, returning home is not in their schedule.

Myrna mazes up through her inclined farm wearing no shoes or slippers. At the top, a small hut sits in the middle of another glade, where she and her husband could spend as much as three, or even four, days straight. She said it would be too time and energy-consuming if they were to return home everyday, only to go back the next morning to continue the planting.

Such may seem methodical. After all, Myrna and Baylon have been tilling these lands for years. It’s easy to assume that experience should have made them

learnéd and any difficulty mundane. But it’s also easy to overlook the fact that weather conditions affecting farmers are not constant.

Myrna faces an increasingly hostile environment. Now a single typhoon may leave as much as half a billion pesos in agricultural damages in this region alone. On the other hand, one hot summer can do as much destruction. Imagine losing all of a few weeks’ hardwork, and a year’s worth of income, to an hour or two of sustained gale-force winds and heavy rainfall or a few days without a single drop of rain.

When it comes to climate change, upland farmers are said to be one of the most vulnerable people. They toil up on hillsides or mountain slopes, where, without proper infrastructure, anything will be hard to transport. Crucially, without an upland source, water is harder to tap. Irrigations that feed plains will have to make use of pumps to bring water to higher areas. Needless to say, any shortage in water supply will affect upland areas first and more severely than low-lying flatlands. In addition, upland areas are also more prone to soil erosion. With only flimsy crops holding the soil together, excessive rainfall may even lead to disastrous consequences such as landslides.

Farmers like Myrna literally face an uphill battle to sustain their livelihood. Not helping is the fact that they are in Cagayan Valley,

where weather extremes seem to be the norm. Temperatures reach record highs during one half of the year and cyclonic wind and rain frequently lash through the area during the rest.

PhilCCAP equips farmers like Myrna and Baylon with the tools and knowledge to help them cope with the pernicious effects of climate change. In Cagayan, the Project introduced the practice of agroforestry to upland communities. The idea is to plant an alternative set of produce-bearing trees that are more resistant to fluctuations in natural conditions. Since early this year, beneficiaries have been growing mango seedlings in between their corn crops. Not only are mango trees much sturdier than the regularly planted crops, they also help in preventing landslides. Moreover, the formulation of a management plan is well underway to ensure that the mango plantations are well taken care of and an enterprise is set up to augment the income of the local farmers.

However, the success of PhilCCAP’s initiatives lies in the unhampered and long-term support of the community and the authorities. Specifically, the role of the Protected Areas Management Board, a multi-sectoral body responsible for the protected areas, is crucial in ascertaining the longevity and sustenance of these adaptation measures.

Photo by Horace Cimafranca

SAN MATEO, ISABELA -- The Agricultural Training Institute-Regional Training Center in Region 2 (ATI-RTC 2) hosted the PhilCCAP Training for Implementers and Subject Matter Specialists on the Enhanced Climate Smart Farmers Field School (ECS FFS) Program Manual

The ECS FFS Program Manual was the result of a series of writeshops from different agencies, which was finalized by the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM).

The training was conducted for five days on October 27-31, 2014, with the aim of guiding the users and trainors on how to properly deliver information about climate change and adaptation to farmers. It was attended by 41 participants from the Bureau of Soils

and Water Management, ATI, Department of Agriculture (DA)-Central Office, DA-Regional Field Offices 2 and 6, DENR, Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, the LGUs of Peñablanca and Tuguegarao City for Region 2 and of Janiuay, Mina, Dumangas and Pototan for Region 6.

Part of the training was a field visit to the school for practical agriculture (SPA) learning sites in Cabatuan and San Mateo, Isabela to expose the participants and help them gain actual experiences on how integrated farming system is established. Participants also went to one of the pilot sites of PhilCCAP in Barangay Aggugaddan, Peñablanca, Cagayan for them to observe and interact with PhilCCAP’s farmer-beneficiaries.

Participants of the training said that they appreciated the implementation of PhilCCAP‘s subprojects and the establishment of a

learning hut with a functional learning center, an integrated farm, and a provision of starter inputs for the ECS FFS farmer-participants. Attendees from Region 6 also said that they wanted to replicate the learning site in their areas.

Among the topics discussed during the training were the content of the program manual and the decision support system developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which will be disseminated to the farmers. Center Director Renato Maguigad of the regional ATI said that the program manual was the output of the series of ECS FFS conducted during the implementation of PhilCCAP. This a deliverable under Subcomponent 2.2 of the Project on Enhancing Delivery and Effectiveness of Extension Services for Farm-Level Climate Risk Management, for which the DA, BSWM and the ATI are primarily responsible.

training held for farmers school manual

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Editor-in-Chief: Horace E. CimafrancaContributors: Claris M. Alaska, ATI, BSWM and PhilCCAP-PMOYou may email your comments and/or suggestions to horacecimafranca (at) gmail (dot) com

Published by the PhilCCAP Project Management OfficeFASPS Annex Building, DENR Central Office, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, 1128 Philippines

Tel: 925-1185 / +63 917 561-9544

ABOVE: A farmer in Iloilo, applying the techniques learned from the Enhance Climate Smart Farmers Field School (ECS FFS), shows her produce. Photo provided by ATI

BELOW: Crops are on display at a learning site in Isabela province during a training for the implementers of the ECS FFS program manual. Photo provided by BSWM

BY CLARIS M. ALASKAAgricultural Training Institute - Region 2

snapshotsHere are briefs on some of the developments from PhilCCAP’s other subprojects:

decision support system

weather index-basedcrop insurance

policy recommendations

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The Decision Support System (DSS) is a web and mobile phone-based climate-smart decision tool for growing rice and corn. It incorporates climate information and provides climate-smart recommendations to farmers to reduce the risk from climate variations. An initial version of the DSS was completed by the International Rice Research Institute and training on its use was conducted in 2014.

The formulation of a weather index-based crop insurance (WIBCI) was spearheaded by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) as an innovative approach to expand the instruments available for weather risk management in the agricultural sector. The PCIC launched the pilot-testing for WIBCI in Regions 2 and 6 in 2014.

A comprehensive paper on climate change adaptation (CCA) policy recommendations for the national and local governments will be released by April 2015. A communication plan is presently being formulated to facilitate a program geared to encourage the adoption of these recommendations.

Under component 3 of the project, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) was tasked to provide the climatological information needed for the other components. To date, PAGASA has produced significant outputs, which have been used by PhilCCAP consultants and agencies.

Further details on these developments and more will be featured in the next issue.

The PhilCCAP Newsletter | First Quarter, 2015