Restoring coconut farmers’livelihoods in the Philippines PH

ILIPPINES

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P a lompon, Leyte, Philippines – The road to recoveryhas not been easy for 52 year old Marcelina Calvez andher husband who have been farming this area of thePhilippines for more than 30 years. They have seven childrenand, like many coconut farmers, they do not own their land.Even prior to Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as “Yolanda”),the half hectare of coconuts they were farming was notenough to meet the family’s needs.

“After Yolanda, we lost our livelihood but we still had debts topay,” said Marcelina. “The hardest part was trying to earnmoney to feed my family.”

Restoring livelihoods and building the resilience of coconutfarmers was a paramount consideration in the aftermath of thetyphoon and this meant providing farmers with a stable sourceof alternative livelihood that could be sustained even withlimited land resources and capital.

In response, FAO and its partners established 129 SlopingAgricultural Land Technology (SALT) sites to enable coconut-based farming communities to plant vegetables and othercash crops to complement their main crops like coconut andcorn. By planting short-term, medium-term and permanentcrops, farmers are able to gain alternative livelihood sourcesand make use of idle land under coconut plantations.

The sites were built in the Haiyan-affected areas of Region VIand VIII, and trainings were conducted on the establishmentand maintenance of the sites with community-basedorganizations and farmer cooperatives.

“It’s hard work but it’s much better than our traditional way offarming,” says Marcelina, who is a member of the LibertyFarmers Multipurpose Cooperative. “We can now achieve moreproductivity in these hilly areas we didn’t think we could farm.”

SALT (also known as contour farming) was adopted in theseareas because it is an ecologically-sound method of uplandand contour farming that is specifically developed forsmallholder farmers with few tools, little capital and limitedfarming grounds. To further emphasize the importance ofadopting climate-smart farming technologies, one SALTdemonstration farm per municipality was established andused as a venue for a climate-smart farmer field school.

Establishing climate-smart farmer fieldschools

Through the same programme, FAO established 68Climate-Smart Farmer Field Schools and conducted severalcapacity building and training sessions in the southern tip ofthe island of Mindoro.  The island was hit particularly hard bythe typhoon and many living in this remote mountainousregion belong to indigenous tribes that were already highlyvulnerable before the typhoon, with little resilience in terms offood security and agricultural productivity.

The project introduced the concept of integrating climateresilience and crop diversification, along with providing newmethods for agro-ecology, weather monitoring, and enhancedpractices on soil and pest management. It also retooledfarmers in alley cropping and vegetable production.

Before Typhoon Haiyan, many indigenous tribes were involvedin kaingin farming (slash-and-burn farming), a traditionalmethod of farming that has led to deforestation in themountainous regions of southern Mindoro. “We hadn’tthought about our way of farming affecting the climate untilwe attended the farmer field school,” said  67-year-old ManuelOrosa Sr, a farmer and tribe leader of the Hanunuo Mangyanindigenous group.

“We learnt how to farm on hilly land using contour lines so thatthe fertility of the soil is preserved and the health of plants isensured,” Manuel continued enthusiastically. “You can planta wide variety of crops on a contour farm like vegetables, cornand rice.”

“After Yolanda, we lost our livelihood but we still had debtsto pay. The hardest part was trying to earn money

to feed my family.” – Marcelina Calvez, coconut farmer

© FAO – R.Cabrera

PHILIPPINES Restoring coconut farmers’livelihoods in the Philippines

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ContactsAllan DowRegional Communication Officer (Asia-Pacific)Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific39 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 10200, ThailandTel: +662 697 4126   Mobile: +6681 899 7354Email: allan.dow@fao.org Website: www.fao.org/asiapacific

ACHIEVING FAO’S STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Increasing the resilience of livelihoods to disasters and enabling inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems are two of FAO’sstrategic objectives in achieving a food-secure world.

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“The training has taught me how I can use the landcontinuously and this is a big help not only to me and my

family, but also to our tribe and community,”Manuel Orosa Sr, indigenous farmer

FACTS ABOUT COCONUTS

Coconut is one of the most important crops in the Philippineswith the country being the second largest coconut producerin the world. After Typhoon Haiyan (locally known asYolanda) struck the country in November 2013, an estimated44 million trees were damaged or destroyed, affecting around1 million coconut farmers. In response, FAO implemented theCoconut-Based Farming Systems programme which was partof the Organization’s USD 39.7 million Typhoon HaiyanStrategic Response Plan aiming to address the recovery needsof affected farming families. Through the programme,activities were designed to enable small-scale coconutfarmers to plant short term vegetable cash crops and annualcrops to provide alternative livelihood sources, while alsointegrating climate-smart farming technologies. From theidentification of the specific needs of coconut farmingcommunities to the implementation of projects, FAO workedin collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, thePhilippine Coconut Authority, Department of AgrarianReform, Department of Environment and Natural Resources,the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples and localGovernment units to support coconut-based farmingsystems.

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The training culminated in the preparation and presentationof farm sustainability plans by the participants, which hasenabled farmers like Manuel to feel more confident about howthey can continue to maximize the use of their land.

“The training has taught me how I can use the landcontinuously and this is a big help not only to me and myfamily, but also to our tribe and community,” Manuelconcluded. 

By providing alternative coconut-based farming livelihoods inthe targeted communities, the programme has helped restoreagricultural production, increased access to alternativecertified seeds and quality planting materials, improved cropvarieties and animal breeds, and introduced new methods ofagro-ecology.