The Gender Toolkit was developed based on action research led by CARE International
and CARE Philippines, which focused on the participation of women’s rights organizations
in the Philippines’ fifth NAP co-creation process in 2019.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative to advance open government through collaboration between government and civil society. Governments work with civil society in multi-stakeholder forums to co-create Action Plans that contain commitments to advance transparency, participation, and accountability.
The Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) is a Research Project of CARE Philippines, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and the National Society of Informal Workers in the Philippines (PATAMABA) that will last six months from May to November 2023.
The second phase of Addressing NCDs in Humanitarian Settings project focuses on ensuring the sustainability of the gains by supporting the local health system of Lanao del Sur and Marawi City to assume the implementation and management of the project model.
The RISE Coco (Recovery Intervention for SEverely Affected Coconut Farming Communities of Bohol by ST Odette) Project aims to address the critical needs of typhoon Odette-affected coconut farmers for livelihood support, primarily the alternative sources of income while rehabilitating their damaged coconut trees in 2 years.
The WE EMPOWER project aims to improve women’s economic empowerment and social well-being of abaca and rootcrops value chain actors (producers, processors, traders, and workers), particularly that of women and female youth.
The project, WoMen Adding Value to the Economy in Siargao: Building Resilient Livelihoods for Typhoon Odette Affected People in Community-Based Tourism Value Chain aims to assist typhoon-affected families of Siargao in community-based tourism value chain recover their livelihoods and increase their resilience within 2 years.
CARE Philippines Emergency Coordinator, Jerome Lanit hands over food items to a woman head of a household that was affected by the armed clashes in Ungkaya Pukan town in Basilan. (J. Dulla/CARE Philippines)
Five hundred eighty (580) households that were affected by the series of armed clashes in Brgy. Ulitan, Ungkaya Pukan, Basilan received essential food, non-food items, and shelter kits on February 4 and 5.
Members of these households were forced to leave their homes when combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine military clashed in November last year. When the conflict subsided, they returned only to find that some of their houses, including the mosque, madrasah, and an essential government building, were damaged from the fighting.
CARE and its partner, NISA Ul Haqq fi Bangsamoro, Inc., with the facilitation of the GPH-MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) and with the support of the BARMM Ministry of Social Services and Development were able to access the community to deliver life-saving assistance to the affected vulnerable households.
“As humanitarians, it is important that we address first the needs of the members of vulnerable communities who still feel insecure because of the uncertainty of the situation while the peace mechanisms are working for a sustained solution to the conflict,” said Jerome Lanit, CARE’s Emergency Coordinator.
Meanwhile, Shalom Tillah Allian of NISA Ul Haqq fi Bangsamoro, Inc. shared that the collaboration with the BARMM MSSD, MILF CCCH and AHJAG showed that humanitarian and peace building efforts work meaningfully when working together on an equal footing.
“More than just the goods shared to them, to us what is more powerful is to see the mujahideens and the mujahidat owning the initiative as they led the distribution. We cannot overemphasize the importance of cultivating solidarity with the peace process mechanisms afforded to us”, she added.
Photos: Members of the community helped in the repacking and distribution of the relief goods to the affected households. (J. Dulla, S. Allian)
The Basilan Emergency Response is supported by the Tijori Foundation and is being implemented by CARE Philippines and its partner, NISA Ul Haqq fi Bangsamoro, Inc., in collaboration with the BARMM Ministry of Social Services and Development, GPH-MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG).
It was nearly noon, and the sun was already scorching hot when Analyn, 48, picked string beans and snap peas on their 1.5-hectare vegetable farm up a hill in Brgy. Malabanan, Balete, Batangas. It was a grueling task because the trellises that held the vines up were bent low by the strong winds and rain brought by Typhoon Paeng (Nalgae) in September. She crouched to get the mature beans while dragging a sack where she put her harvest. Her husband, Pablo, 54, picked okra on the other side of the farm. They then met where two large wicker baskets were nearly filled with the vegetables they gathered. They began sorting those of market quality from those they would cook at home or sell to their neighbors downhill.
While packing the vegetables they would sell to the traders in the market, Analyn shared that they are reaping the results of their good decisions at the start of the cropping season.
They were one of several small farmers affected by the volcanic ash eruption of Mount Taal that were invited as participants to CARE’s aGAP (Asenso sa Good Agriculture Package). It was a project implemented with the Southern Tagalog People’s Response Center – STPRC, Inc. with support from the Metrobank Foundation, Inc. that assists marginalized farming households whose livelihoods have been doubly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the intermittent Taal Volcano eruptions since January 2020. One of the project’s supports was providing additional farming inputs such as training on good agriculture practices to the participants to help them improve their resiliency to the constant volcanic ash and other climate change effects on their farming.
They learned from one of the sustainable agriculture training they attended that they could plant madre de cacao, a nitrogen-fixing tree, as natural trellises for their climbing vegetables. Their usual wooden post trellis cost 15 pesos each (27 cents). They needed at least 500 post trellises. Using the madre de cacao meant they saved 7,500 pesos (135 dollars). And because it is planted and growing, the tree can help prevent the soil from eroding, and its nitrogen-rich leaves can be used as fertilizer. With the trees rooted to the ground, they withstood being felled by the typhoon’s winds. Hence, the family was able to keep harvesting from their farm.
Moreover, Pablo learned to make fermented plant juice (FPJ) which ingredients were mainly from the plants they were growing. This is an inexpensive alternative to chemical fertilizers. They usually spend 4,000 pesos (72) dollars for fertilizer. With the FPJ, they partially cut the cost for this.
Pablo stirs the fermented plant juice (FPJ) that he made at home using molasses and vegetables harvested from the family farm. | Photo: M. Norbe
“We still couldn’t entirely turn it into an organic farm because we needed the yield that the chemical fertilizers bring. But slowly, we are noticing how the natural fertilizers I made produce healthier plants”, Pablo shared.
He had already experimented using only the FPJ and animal manure on a plot of okra, producing market-quality fruits. He planned to continue applying the knowledge from the training to the farm and see how they could improve their yield.
For farmers like Pablo and Analyn, yield is the most critical factor in bringing sufficient income from farming. However, their harsh experiences with the changing climate and the constant exposure to volcanic ash taught them that if they didn’t change their ways of farming, their land would continuously be stripped of its fertility and eventually lose yield.
They have been farming for the past 20 years using chemical fertilizers. They observed how these turned the soil so acidic that for every cropping, they added more to produce the same yield as the last. The soil gets easily eroded too, when heavy rains pour. So, the couple are working hard to bring back their farm soil’s fertility and increase its resilience to extreme weather events by integrating good agricultural practices in their farming.
“We are getting older and we wanted to prepare this land for our son to inherit. When that day comes, this farm will be a thriving business that we hope for him to continue”, Analyn shared.
This story is part of the aGAP (Asenso sa Good Agriculture Package) sa Batangas implemented by CARE and its partner, Southern Tagalog People’s Response Center – STPRC, Inc. in three barangays in the Municipality of Balete in Batangas province. This project is supported by the Metrobank Foundation.
Riza, 35, shows the vegetable seedlings that she and members of their group propagate in their nursery in Barangay Mahayahay, San Jose, Dinagat Island Province. Meanwhile, her 73-year-old mother, Matilde waters the plants in their communal garden where okra, string beans, peppers, squash, sweet potato, water spinach, and other vegetables are growing.
“We already harvested three times since we started the garden. It really helps especially at times when we don’t have enough money to buy food”, Riza shared.
She also said that they are growing their food using organic compost and fertilizers such as fermented fruit and plant juice which materials are sourced in their community.
Their members were trained in sustainable organic farming after Typhoon Rai (Odette) ruined their crops and stripped the garden soil barren.
Through the Immediate and Comprehensive Response for Communities Affected by Typhoon Rai (Odette), men and women members of their communities were organized and formed into mutual groups for reviving the former and engaging in alternative livelihoods.
Aside from their association’s dry goods stores, they decided to put up communal nurseries and gardens to ensure that food will always be on their table.
“After the typhoon, it was very difficult to find food. Now, when we harvest beans, we can store them both for seeds and food”, she added.
The Immediate and Comprehensive Response for Communities Affected by Typhoon Rai (Odette) is implemented jointly by CARE Philippines, ACCORD Incorporated, Action Against Hunger Philippines, National Rural Women Coalition (PKKK) and Plan International Philippines in Dinagat Islands, Palawan, Southern Leyte, Bohol, Negros Occidental, and Cebu, Philippines.
Founded in 1945, CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) is a leading global humanitarian and international development organization dedicated to defending dignity and eradicating poverty. CARE enables lasting change by strengthening the capacity of communities and households through social, political and economic opportunities, delivering relief in emergencies, influencing policy decisions, and addressing discrimination. For 75 years, CARE has led the way to a better life for the world’s most vulnerable people across 100 countries and 70 million people, each year.
