1300 households get UN-FAO livelihood

Restoration help, auto weather stations

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol March 22 (PIA) – Bidding to restore and promote climate smart and resilient livelihood, the Japanese Embassy, through the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) funded a US$ 1,872,911 for restoring livelihood and enhancing resilience of farmers and fisherfolk who were affected by Odette in December of 2022.

The fund, targets help for 4,000 household level small scale coconut farmers, agrarian reform beneficiaries and fisherfolk of Bohol, Southern Leyte and Surigao del Norte, explains UNFAO Project Team Leader GayTherese Bucol, in her project overview.

We wish to help the 1300 households in Bohol, affected families from Ubay, Mabini and Pres Carlos P. Garcia increase their productivity and income by providing them with good quality agri and fishery inputs as well as their adaption of climate resilient agriculture and fishery practices, Bucol continued.

A project of two components, restoring livelihood hands out 1333 packs of assorted lowland vegetable packets to individual household beneficiaries, 300 bags of urea fertilizer (46-0-0) at a bag for each family beneficiary, 300 bags of complete fertilizer (14-14-14) for each family beneficiary, 1000 heads ready-to-lay pullets for 6 community based organizations, 100 bags of grower feeds and 200 bags of layer feeds for the beneficiaries as well as 30 units of water pumps with accessories for 30 community based organizations, as agricultural inputs.

For fishermen beneficiaries, the inputs include milkfish fingerlings for 31 fishermen’s organizations in bamboo and high density polyethelyne fish cages, assorted fish feeds for 192,915 milkfish fingerlings, materials for assembling 8 sets of drift gill net for 8 household beneficiaries for Ubay and Pre Carlos P Garcia.

Moreover, the livelihood package also includes capacity building and production of milkfish in cages, retooling on vegetable production and backyard poultry production.

Finally, as to their second output, each gets a set of automatic weather station and training for Ubay, Pres Carlos P. Garcia and Mabini automatic weather station monitors and maintenance.

Japan First Secretary and Agriculture Attache Tachikawa Jumpei, in his message highlighted the need for developing climate resilient livelihood considering that farming and fishing are all weather dependent activities.

Getting the timely information from the automatic weather stations, the community organizations in the project also hopes to help build on climate resilient agriculture technologies and use of climate information system and early warning systems, he emphasized.

Para nako, dako kaayo og ikatabang, 74 years old farmer chairman of Popoo (Pres. Carlos P. Garcia) Farmers and Fishermen Organization Alexander Mondragon said.

Himself a winner in the annual Bahay Kubo household garden competitions organized by the Office of the Provincial Agriculture, Mondragon and his men believed access to water for their plants could spell a more sustainable production for food security.

Mondagron’s 700 member organization received a water pump with accessories to help irrigate and water their vegetable farms.

Two fish cages which Mondragon and his member fishers kept in 2021 were all lost when typhoon Odette viciously ravaged the northern part of Bohol.

On the other, Cesar Escaño of Basiao Mangrove Growers Association, who also received a deep well package from the government earlier, said they could also use the water pump I their soon to be dug deep well which the Department of Agriculture is giving them.

“Magamit ra namo pohon sa among atabay,” (we can use that in the future) Escaño said, noting that Carlos P Garcia still relies on ground water for their household and hygiene needs.

CPG residents also use an average of 1500 cubic meters of water as a daily demand, and digging water to be pumped out appear to be widening up the base of people with access to clean, potable and safe water.

Meanwhile, Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado urged beneficiary households from the three towns to properly use the help so that this motivates people some more to join and support us in this recovery stage. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

WATER PUMP BENEFICIARY, With Pres Carlos P. Garcia dependent on ground water for their domestic and agriculture use in the island. Alexander Mondragon, Popoo Farmers and Fishermen’s Organization chair thinks this is a huge help in their vegetable farms, adding that they can also use the water for domestic use. Mondragon gets the certificate from UN FAO country representative Dr. Lionel Dabbadi which Japan’s First secretary and agri-attache look in. (PIABohol)