CARE Philippines: Emergency Relief Philippines | NGO Philippines

Story by Dennis Amata (Communications & Knowledge Manager, CARE Philippines)

International humanitarian organization CARE and the Antique Development Foundation (ADF) continue to support abaca farmers and processors in Antique as the 2^nd Provincial Abaca Congress has created another milestone in the province’s booming abaca industry.

The Abaca Congress, financially supported by the Government of Canada through the Global Affairs Canada (GAC), was held in Antique’s capital San Jose.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu, Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao and Senator Loren Legarda expressed their support to the event that was also attended by over 200 abaca farmers and micro-entrepreneurs as well as key officials from the national, provincial and municipal government.

The annual congress links abaca farmers, knotters, twiners and handicraft makers with the Government. CARE and ADF presented the project accomplishments, and engaged farmers and various stakeholders to address issues and challenges in terms of industry sustainability. Farmers were given an opportunity to ask key officials from the government on further support and matters related to the abaca industry.

The Philippines is a major supplier of abaca fiber in the world and the province of Antique ranks 4^th in Western Visayas in terms of production volume. Abaca is used to produce fabric for clothing, cordage, specialty papers and cardboards, tea bags etc.

“Holding the Provincial Abaca Congress in Antique serves as a major step towards our long-term approach in supporting the development of abaca industry. The initiatives benefit the marginalized farmers in the province,” said Tess Bayombong, Project Team Leader of Typhoon Haiyan Reconstruction Assistance (THRA).

“The abaca industry has also opened livelihood opportunities for women in Antique. Many women are now earning from abaca fiber extraction, knotting, twining and weaving,” added Bayombong.

By improving the abaca industry in Antique, the sugar migrant workers or locally known as “sakada” are given alternative sources of income.

“One of the bottlenecks in the abaca industry in Antique is low productivity in cultivation and fiber extraction. Our mountains are rich in abaca. That’s why we have brought the farmers closer to local government units and agencies so we could address this challenge,” said Rhoda Pon-an, Executive Director of ADF.

Through the THRA Project and ADF’s facilitation plus the technical support of the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA), a total of 2,416 farmers were trained in abaca cultural management from nursery to post harvest management. This addresses the lack of technical know-how on good agricultural practices and appropriate harvesting and processing techniques.

Demo farms have been established in Antique to showcase good practices and new planting protocols particularly the low-level, high-density abaca farming technology.

ADF recorded over 6,500 beneficiaries in 15 municipalities who have undergone various capacity building activities in the abaca value chain since the start of the THRA Project.

CARE has also partnered with the Metals Industry Research and Development Center of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in developing a handy and user-friendly fiber extracting tool that was named “Carerigyan,” also derived from the word CARE + kerigyan (local name for the stripping tool). Carerigyan was launched in the Abaca Congress and is expected to increase productivity of abaca strippers who currently use traditional extraction tools that require time and skills for set-up.

Through the value-chain development approach, CARE and ADF provided community organizations financial assistance and training in abaca nursery and plantation development, organic fertilizer production, fiber extraction, marketing, enterprise management and support for tools and equipment. They also receive orientations on women and girls in development, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

The ADF has trained farmers in abaca fiber classification and was also able to leverage prices of abaca fiber with the buyers and has increased farm gate price from 20 pesos to at least 35 to 40 pesos per kilo for third class abaca fiber and from 55.00 per kilo for 2^nd class fibers to 65.00 per kilo. This provides additional income to the abaca producers.

The Provincial Government has included abaca in the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan. Governor Cadiao also signed Executive Order No. 008 series of 2017 to create the Provincial Abaca Development Committee which will oversee the industry, recommend policy, and provide consultancy assistance to the community organizations and marginalized farmers.

CARE and ADF continue to strengthen linkages with PhilFIDA, Department of Trade and Industry, DENR, Department of Agriculture, DOST, Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, Department of Labor and Employment, different local government units, research institutions and business development services and financial service providers.

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ABOUT THE PROJECT: The Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) Reconstruction Assistance (THRA) is a four-year initiative supporting the recovery efforts of people heavily affected by Haiyan in Leyte, Antique and Iloilo.

In Antique, the project supports women, farmers, entrepreneurs and other marginalized groups in boosting their livelihoods through abaca production, processing and marketing.

Story by Dennis Amata (Communications and Knowledge Manager, CARE Philippines)

If there is one thing that Imelda Bacor is grateful for, that is the opportunity to earn from her passion.

Imelda, a 64-year-old vegetable farmer in Lemery in Iloilo, shared that farming has been part of her system. She learned it from her parents when she was ten years old.

“I live in an agriculture-dependent town and everyone knows how to farm. It has been our primary source of income to buy our daily needs,” she said.

Imelda happily shared that she has a vegetable garden in her backyard where she grows string beans, pumpkins, eggplants, taro, jackfruit, okra, etc.

“Having a backyard garden is such a big help to us especially now that I am already a senior citizen. Vegetable farming is only my source of income.”

Imelda narrated how she and her husband struggled after Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest ever that hit her town. Her house was badly damaged into pieces and her vegetable garden was not spared by Haiyan’s merciless winds.

“It was really difficult to get back on our feet because we literally lost everything. My husband and I are both old so we weren’t able to rebuild faster like our neighbors. But we didn’t give up. Our son became our source of strength so we just kept going,” she said.

Imelda married when she was 40 years old. After Haiyan, her son was still in college and about to finish his studies. She nearly let her son skip his last few semesters because of financial difficulties but she kept her hopes up.

But things have turned brighter for Imelda. Her community has become part of CARE’s Typhoon Haiyan Reconstruction Assistance project. With the support of the Government of Canada through the Global Affairs Canada, CARE provided financial assistance to farmers’ associations in Lemery to boost vegetable production. This has led to income-generating activities for small-scale farmers particularly women and the elderly.

“I am extremely happy taking part in CARE’s livelihood project in my community. I joined our farmers’ association and they even elected me as the secretary.”

In partnership with local cooperative Taytay sa Kauswagan Inc., CARE has provided skill-building training and workshops on community-based enterprise management, financial literacy, values formation, disaster preparedness, and awareness of fair household responsibilities.

To help farmers protect their farms from natural disasters, CARE has collaborated with the Department of Agriculture and the local government unit to provide training sessions on new farming technologies and good agricultural practices.

“We’ve learned so much from all the technical assistance provided to us. Before we were not mulching in our farms. We just plant traditionally without these practices that in fact can help increase our yield, said Imelda.

“I have also learned drip irrigation, which I believe is one of the most efficient ways of irrigating because it saves us water. It is easy to set up and very applicable to our area because we sometimes experience drought during summer.”

Imelda now spends most of her morning in her vegetable garden, and once a week she goes to a demo farm that CARE has helped establish. She regularly harvests vegetables that she sells in different markets in Lemery and nearby towns.

“I am thankful that I have a stable livelihood now. Through this, I was able to support my son’s education,” said Imelda.

“I am proud of my son because he recently graduated with flying colors.”

Imelda believes that age should not hinder someone to earn and access income opportunities. After all, willpower knows no obstacles.

Story by: Dennis Amata (Communications Manager, CARE Philippines)

Coconut farming was the main source of livelihood of people in the upland village of Quezon Junior in Ormoc, Leyte, Philippines. But the people suffered a major blow when their coconut plantations were harshly wiped out by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013.

“Most of the people here are coconut farmers. But since coconut trees were heavily damaged by the typhoon, we had to look for other crops to plant,” shared Julieto Yahot, the president of Quezon Junior United Farmers Association (QJUFA).

This marked the beginning of seriously considering cassava as their alternative to coconuts. Cassava (scientific name: manihot esculenta) is a tuberous starchy root, high in carbohydrates, and essential to tropical diets. The roots, often compared to large yams, can weigh several pounds.

“We also tried planting cocoa but it failed to grow because of the extreme heat we experienced after Yolanda. We thought of planting cassava because we know it’s a disaster-resilient crop that could withstand both drought and strong rains,” said Julieto.

The QJUFA became one of the community associations financially supported by CARE through the Community Enterprise Facility project in partnership with the Rural Development Initiatives in the Islands of Leyte. They are further assisted by CARE through the on-going post-Haiyan Reconstruction Assistance Project funded by the Government of Canada (Global Affairs Canada) which provided them necessary trainings for success and sustainability.

The farmers of QJUFA also saw the opportunity of pursuing cassava production because of an existing stable market. Currently, the Fatima Multi-Purpose Cooperative (FMPC) in Leyte is consolidating dried cassava from different farmers’ association to sell to a large food processing company.

“Having the presence of a big buyer around is a morale booster for our farmers. It helps us look forward to harvesting that’s why most of us regularly check our plantation,” shared Julieto.

“Right now, we observe continuous increase in our cassava production. More farmers in our community became interested after knowing there is a steady market. From 25 members, we now have 82.”

The association has also expanded its communal cassava plantation up to 12 hectares.

Cassava production doesn’t just provide jobs to men but it also allowed women to have income-generating opportunities. Women hugely participate in cassava chipping and drying in which they also get paid by the association for their labour.

The association also walks the extra mile in innovating. They process cassava and other crops that also provided additional income to their members. Most of the women members are now involved in producing cassava juice, cassava cake, and turmeric/ginger tea that they sell in their neighbourhood or community markets. The association also set up its own vermicomposting facility to produce organic fertilizer.

QJUFA’s journey to recovery may look seamless but the farmers admitted that they went through hurdles that also tested their persistence.

“Though cassava is a resilient crop to changing weather, our main problem occurs after harvesting. We need to dry chipped cassava in order to sell. Normally, drying takes three days if it’s sunny. But that becomes a week of drying during rainy season,” explained Julieto.

“It is bad for cassava to get wet during drying. It may lead to mould growth that increases spoilage. Aside from that it also delays our production process.”

Julieto shared that they are now requesting solar dryer from the Department of Agriculture that they may use during rainy season. Right now they are using the flatbed dryer with UV plastic sheet as roofing which they built from the support from CARE.

Also, in partnership with FMPC, CARE has provided various relevant and useful trainings for the officers and members of QJUFA to sustain the project. CARE has conducted trainings on enterprise management that includes productivity and marketing sessions, financial literacy, women and development, disaster risk reduction and cassava production.

“The trainings helped us to better manage our association and our enterprise. After attending those trainings, I notice the improvement in my members’ skills and outlook. They interact more with each other and negotiate better with buyers and customers,” said Julieto.

More than 20,000 people in Bicol region, south of Manila in the Philippines, have evacuated as the lava from Mayon Volcano continues to flow.

As of January 16, a total of 5,318 families or 21,823 individuals have been affected in six towns in the province of Albay and are now staying in 18 evacuation centers, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Mount Mayon is expected to erupt within weeks or even days as Alert Level 3 is still in effect over the volcano. It is the most active volcano in the Philippines, erupting over 51 times in the past 400 years.

Residents were advised to refrain from entering the six kilometer-radius permanent danger zone; and seven-kilometer extended danger zone on the southern flanks of the volcano due to the danger of rock falls, landslides, and sudden explosions or dome collapse that may generate hazardous volcanic flows.

International humanitarian organization CARE has activated its emergency response team with local partners Tarabang sa Bicol Inc. (TABI) and Citizens’ Disaster Response Center.

“CARE is currently monitoring the situation with our local partners on the ground. We are ready to provide relief assistance if needed,” said David Gazashvili, CARE Philippines’ Country Director.

“Based on our last experience responding to Mt. Mayon’s eruption, the people had to stay in evacuation centers for more than three months while waiting for their communities to be declared safe to return to. Prolonged evacuation usually leads to food supply shortage, illnesses shared in congested camps, disruption of classes and income generation, and need for hygiene materials especially for women and children,” said Maricris Bines, Executive Director of TABI.

CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes and helping communities prepare for disasters. CARE specializes in providing life-saving assistance and has more than seven decades of experience helping people recover from disasters.

Photo by: Scott McLeskey

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For media interviews, please contact Dennis Amata (CARE Philippines’ Communications Manager).

Mobile: +63 917 5108150

Email: dennis.amata@care.org

Skype: dennis.amata2

For more information, please follow CARE Philippines on Twitter @CAREphl

Story by: Kristine Mae Vicedo (Gender Specialist, CARE Philippines)

Calling Graciana Lauron “strong” is probably an understatement. To grasp the depth of this 73-year old cassava farmer’s strength, one must hear her astonishing story of survival and recovery, proven several times over throughout her life.

Graciana has always dreamt of becoming a mother, but due to a cyst in her ovary, she could not have children of her own. This, however, did not stop her from building a happy family. She and her husband adopted children of distant relatives, and godchildren from impoverished friends. Soon their family of two grew into a family of 12, after they took 10 children under their wing.

Graciana and her husband have always been cassava farmers and hog raisers. They tirelessly worked together to earn a decent living for their 10 children. They also engaged their children in cassava farming; they made cassava farming a family-bonding activity.

Graciana’s husband then passed away, leaving her and some of their children to tend to the farm. At this time, some of Graciana’s children already have families of their own, and are cassava farmers  themselves. Graciana was devastated with the loss, but her children kept her going. She needed to be strong for the children who are still under her care. Consequently, the older children also gave her support in farming activities.

Challenges kept rolling down Graciana’s way as she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Although scared of what was about to happen, Graciana kept the faith, and carried on with life — doubling farming efforts to finance her medication. By a stroke of miracle, and through her family’s combined efforts, she was eventually declared cancer-free.

Graciana thought that the worst had passed until the year 2013 came. Typhoon Haiyan wreaked havoc in the Visayas region, heavily affecting Graciana’s house and farm. Her animals were also not spared by the super typhoon. Like most Filipinos in the eastern Visayas, Graciana was left economically-devastated by thetyphoon. With her source of income destroyed, Graciana’s future was looking bleak.

Being the fighter that she is, Graciana trudged on, and searched for ways on how to get back on her feet. She became a part of Canfabi Farmer’s Association (CANFABI), and was chosen as one of the farmer-entrepreneurs of CARE’s Typhoon Haiyan Reconstruction Assistance (THRA) project which is financially supported by the Government of Canada through the Global Affairs Canada.

She relates that CARE’s THRA project has allowed her to improve her farming skills through trainings on good agricultural practices. She also takes pride in her extended role: from being merely a planter and harvester, she has become a chipper and dryer. By being a cassava chipper and dryer, she is able to sell her cassava harvest at a higher price. Her income per harvest has doubled from Php 7,000 (pre-Haiyan) to Php 16,000 at present. Apart from this, she also continues to raise livestock.

She also proudly shares that her farm is risk-resilient, as she religiously follows disaster risk reduction measures in cassava farming, stressing the importance of planting the cassava vertically, rather than the traditional manner of planting it horizontally. She explains that vertical planting allows the crop to develop stronger roots that are more resilient to flooding and soil erosion. She is proud to share that because of the new learnings she has acquired from CARE THRA-sponsored trainings, her farm has withstood other typhoons following Yolanda, with minimal to no damage at all.

At 73 years old, Graciana remains active, and still excited at the prospects of developing her cassava farm. No matter what comes, Graciana is sure she can survive, as decades of challenges has taught her how to bounce back and use her learnings to her advantage. She is proud and confident that just like her, her cassava enterprise is not just strong, but is as resilient as can ever be.

“Have you ever felt so upset when all your hard work vanished in a snap?”

This was how Daisy Albao started when asked about the changes in her life after starting their own seaweed production enterprise. Whenever I interview people who took part in our livelihoods recovery project, they would excitedly share about their income, their savings and even things they were able to buy. But Daisy started with a different response.

Daisy, a 40-year-old mother of five is one of the most enthusiastic community leaders I know. She is the president of Agdaliran Women’s Rural Improvement Club Association (AWRIA), a women-led community organization in a coastal village in the town of San Dionisio, Iloilo province, Philippines.

AWRIA received cash grant from CARE to start a seaweed production enterprise after Haiyan’s catastrophic devastation. Through the Typhoon Haiyan Reconstruction Assistance project, financially supported by the Government of Canada through the Global Affairs Canada, AWRIA has received further technical assistance to improve their association’s productivity and linkages.

During my first interviews with her, Daisy elatedly shared her association’s dramatic journey to recovery. Many of the women members were not used to working as they were housewives. But the livelihoods program provided income opportunities for them when they started harvesting fresh seaweeds and selling the dried ones.

AWRIA has also received trainings from CARE and its partner Taytay sa Kauswagan Inc on enterprise management, financial literacy, productivity and marketing. AWRIA’s seaweed production was also badly affected by this year’s El Nino but they continued working to recover.

Daisy has become one of CARE’s Community-based Development Facilitators (CBDF) after displaying great interest in sharing knowledge to and serving other vulnerable people affected by typhoon Haiyan in 2013. She became instrumental as she conducted the same trainings she received from CARE in other remote villages. Her expertise in the local dialect as well as familiarity with the town’s culture really helped in effectively conveying important messages to CARE’s project participants.

But what exactly happened?

“One peaceful night before going to bed, my family and I heard strong waves from the sea. We knew that it was strange. The waves were louder compared to what we usually hear every evening. But then we still ignored it and went to sleep,” she said.

Daisy visited their seaweed plantation early in the morning but to her surprise, everything was destroyed. Their seaweeds and stilts supporting monolines were washed away. The women members gathered in dismay, all staring blankly at the endless stretch of water in front of them.

According to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the coastal villages of San Dionisio experienced a wave surge (locally known in Iloilo as ‘pugada’) that night. A wave surge is a weather disturbance associated with the above normal rise of water level in open coast due to wind stress action on the water surface.

“There was no storm, it wasn’t even raining so we were shock to see that almost 95% of our seaweeds were gone. Our production intensely decreased,” shared by Daisy. “Our members were obviously frustrated and asking me what would be our next step.”

Daisy realized that they shouldn’t remain hopeless and still could do something about it. “I told my members that we would replant. We were able to save some seaweeds and we could start from the remaining 5%. But I know it wouldn’t be an easy ride,” said Daisy.

Daisy had a difficult time convincing the members to join her in replanting. And most of them just shook their heads to say no. But the association’s treasurer tapped Daisy’s back and told her she would help to convince others.

“I am really thankful to Jessica, our treasurer. She helped to talk to our members. Since we were able to generate savings from our income, we eventually had a group meeting and had an agreement to push things forward.”

CARE connected AWRIA to BFAR for technical assistance. The association even received additional planting materials from BFAR. The Municipal Agriculturist also came to the rescue to help the affected coastal villages.

“CARE also helped us to avail our crop insurance from the government. At least now we are less worried whenever we experience these weather disturbances,” shared Daisy.

The women of AWRIA are aware of the changing climate. They said they experience stronger waves during rainy season, and long dry spell also affects their seaweeds when seawater becomes warmer.

“We learned from the previous El Nino when our seaweeds were affected by the ‘ice-ice’ disease and now we also learned from this recent experience. We are very thankful for all the knowledge and techniques we’ve got from technical experts,” said Daisy.

Daisy and her members have learned from BFAR and CARE various agricultural techniques and practices to adapt to the changing climate, and mitigate the impact of disaster. They continued replanting and working together to recover.

“It was a good decision to never give up. For us, resilience doesn’t always mean succeeding in every action. It means being able to stand when situations cripple you for a moment”, said Daisy.

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Story by Dennis Amata (Communications and Knowledge Manager, CARE Philippines)

Story by Jerome Lanit, Emergency Coordinator, CARE Philippines

After days of hearing non-stop gunshots, bombings and agonies from people affected by the bloody armed conflict in Marawi City, 77-year-old widow Dipumbae finally saw a glimpse of light. On early Wednesday morning of September 27, she patiently waited for her turn to receive cash assistance given in a village in Lanao del Sur where she temporarily stays with her family.

On 23 May 23 2017, a group of Islamic State (ISIS)-associated militants locally known as Maute Group mercilessly invaded Marawi City in Mindanao, south of Philippines. The militants burned homes, hospitals, churches, schools, mosques, and shot everyone who stood against their way. According to reports, the Maute Group’s primary objective was to establish the first ISIS caliphate in Southeast Asia.

More than 300,000 people were affected and displaced when government forces waged an all-out war against the Maute Group. Government troops were able to exterminate key militant leaders and rescued innocent people and hostages from the battle zone. There were clashes between the troops and terrorists at some parts of the city leaving many residents including Dipumbae unable to return to their homes.

In response to the Marawi crisis, CARE, in partnership with Agri-Aqua Development Coalition Mindanao (AADC) and Al Mujadilah Development Foundation (AMDF), provided cash assistance to home-based internally displaced people (IDPs) and some host families. These IDPs escaped the armed conflict by staying with relatives or friends in a safer location.

“It is really difficult for me to stay in someone else’s home. I really miss my house. Now we have to depend on relief assistance to survive as we don’t have livelihood here to buy food and things we need,” shared Dipumbae.

“I have a total of ten children and grandchildren with me and often struggle to support our basic needs every single day. My relative is also poor and it pains me to see that we also add to their burden,” she added.

Dipumbae couldn’t help but cry whenever she thinks of her house in Marawi and their current situation. Their normal lives were disrupted and her grandchildren couldn’t go to school.

“Marawi City is no longer a city and looks like an ancient ruin. Devastation is everywhere,” describes AMDF staff Linky who is also from Marawi.

“Marawi was a sprawling urban city but now it’s far from being that. I just hope that we still have a house to return to because apart from the constant bombing and looting, burglary has become a problem now.”

“The government and other humanitarian actors should also support the affected population to recover or else a new breed of Maute Group will surface to demand retribution,” she continued with great worry and tinge of uncertainty for the future.

After receiving cash assistance from CARE and its partners, Dipumbae said she allotted a portion of it for her grandchildren’s school fees. Some would be spent for medicine and the rest is for buying fresh food like vegetable and fish.

“I am very grateful to CARE because they have given us cash assistance, we can now buy those important needs of our family and fresh food,” she added.

Dipumbae has the same concern echoed by women IDPs from Marawi. She said that affected women like her would need assistance on livelihoods recovery so that they would no longer rely on aid and have the capacity to provide for themselves.

“I had a small retail store in Marawi but it was destroyed after the conflict. All I need is a little capital to start over. Even if I no longer have that space, I will just find another one,” Dipumbae said.

“Women affected by the crisis are suffering but we need to remain strong for our families. We don’t have money for medicines and hospitalization in case we get sick. We need to take good care of ourselves amidst challenging living conditions and keep our children, surroundings, and bodies clean to avoid any illness.”

With the Marawi crisis slowly winding down, all eyes are set on recovery. CARE and its partners in Mindanao are committed to provide life-saving and early recovery support to the displaced population.

Livelihoods recovery assistance involving women, psychosocial & sexual reproductive health support to affected families through ‘Family Conversation Sessions’ and also shelter repair will be CARE’s top priorities as affected people slowly pick up the pieces towards recovery.

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*Due to the sensitivity of the topic, Dipumbae doesn’t want her full name to be disclosed nor her photo to be used.

Photo credit: Al Mujadillah Foundation