By Zaldy De Layola | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has earmarked more than P1.4 billion budget this year to fund projects aimed at easing impacts of the El Niño phenomenon in line with the directives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
During the Thursday’s (Feb. 29) media forum at the DSWD Central Office’s New Press Center in Quezon City, Special Assistant to the Secretary for Special Projects Maria Isabel Lanada said the allocated budget will be used to fund the DSWD’s initiatives dubbed as Local Adaptation to Water Access (Project LAWA) and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (Project BINHI).
Projects LAWA and BINHI are proactive interventions and sustainable solutions to combat hunger, alleviate poverty, and decrease economic vulnerability of the communities by addressing food insecurity and water scarcity that are exacerbated by climate change and disasters.
“’Yong project LAWA ay nagkaroon na tayo ng pilot implementation last year. Ito ay ginawa sa Davao de Oro sa Mindanao, Ifugao sa Luzon, at Antique sa Visayas. Ito ay angkop na pamamaraan o teknolohiya upang magkaroon ng water availability sa mga communities,” Lanada said.
She said that during the pilot testing, it was noted that people do not only need water but also nutritious food to ensure their survival and productivity.
With the mandate of DSWD being on poverty alleviation and hunger mitigation, the agency is also focused on food security, she said, adding this is how the project BINHI came about.
Lanada said both projects will provide Learning and Development Sessions on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction, and cash-for-training and cash-for-work (CFTW) to beneficiaries in priority areas exposed to the effects of El Niño.
The projects are also science and data-driven and are based on the Climate Outlook of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA) with the most number of poor families based on Listahanan 3, she said.
“The target beneficiaries include families of farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, and other climate and disaster-vulnerable families,” she added.
Each beneficiary will be given the opportunity to participate in CFTW activities for 10 to 25 days with the corresponding daily wage based on the prevailing Regional Daily Minimum Wage Rate range of the project area.
Among the projects that the beneficiaries will partake in are related to water efficiency such as construction of small farm reservoirs, repairs, and rehabilitation of water harvesting facilities, repairs of multipurpose water infrastructures, diversification of water supplies, aqua or hydroponics, and aquaculture, among others.
For food security, the beneficiaries will be participating in activities such as communal vegetable gardening; urban gardening; school-based and community-based vegetable gardening; community-based diversified integrated farming; planting of disaster resilient crops, fruit-bearing trees and mangroves; and vermicomposting.
For 2024, projects LAWA and BINHI will be implemented in 294 cities/municipalities in 58 provinces in 16 regions. At least 10 SFRs will be constructed in every participating city/municipality.
“Sa ngayon ay may 290 nang nagagawang lawa out of the more than 2,000 that will be constructed this year,” Lanada said.
She recognized that people’s participation is one factor in the success of projects LAWA and BINHI.
