Philippines gets $4.97-M World Bank grant to help farmers weather climate change impact

The Philippines got a $4.97-million World Bank grant to help farmers cope with the effects of climate change, the multilateral lender said in a statement released on Friday.

The government and the World bank signed the agreement last Dec. 21, the statement said.

The grant, to come from the Global Environment facility of the World Bank-managed Special Climate Change Fund, will help finance the $55.42-million Philippines Climate Change Adaptation Project (PhilCCAP).

Data from the World Bank Web site showed PhilCCAP was approved on June 29 last year, with the Philippines shelling out $50.45 million in counterpart funding.

The project aims to develop and test adaptation strategies that will develop the resiliency of farms and natural resource management to the effects of climate change.

Measures to be funded include improving irrigation and other agricultural infrastructure, pilot-testing weather index-based crop insurance, as well as enhancing the management of watersheds and protected areas, the World Bank said in its statement.

It also aims to improve the capacity of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in gathering and analyzing data on climate change trends and disseminating information to the government and the public.

World Bank said the project will be implemented by the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), PAGASA and the Climate Change Commission.

It said the project will help both the national and local governments, as well as rural communities “more effectively manage and protect critical ecosystems through a systematic consideration of climate risks.”

“Poor communities are more vulnerable to climate change and have fewer options for coping with the impact, including decreased food and water supplies. This project, therefore, is very important because it helps reduce the poor’s vulnerability to these types of shocks,” World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman said in the statement.

The same statement quoted Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala as saying “the project will benefit poor farmers, who often suffer the most from climate change-related losses, as well as other vulnerable groups that depend on agriculture and natural resources for their livelihoods.”

Environment and Natural Resources Sec. Ramon Jesus P. Paje said in the statement that the project “will also strengthen the coordination of interventions addressing climate change by supporting capacity-building in oversight bodies like the Climate Change Commission.”

The bank noted that the Philippines is among the top 10 countries at risk of natural disasters and other effects of climate change.

More state funding

In a related development, a bill now being scheduled for public hearing in the House of Representatives seeks to establish a fund for local government units (LGUs) that will adopt programs to help their communities weather the impact of climate change.

House Bill (HB) 3528, filed Deputy Speaker Lorenzo M. Tañada III (4th district, Quezon), seeks to put up the “People’s Survival Fund” (PSF), to be administered by the Climate Change Commission, which will serve as an incentive to LGUs that will develop and adopt such climate change adaptation strategies.

The PSF will become the central source of funding support for adaptation measures urgently needed by farming localities.

Examples include small water impounding projects in anticipation of drought and structures that can reduce damage from floods, Mr. Tañada said in a statement on Friday.

He added that “communities must be properly equipped and prepared to help themselves in order to respond to the disasters brought about by this phenomenon. They must also put forward a climate change adaptation strategy which must be properly funded.”

The funds will come from domestic private and public, as well as foreign funds. These include, but will not be limited to, 10% of the cash dividends declared by all government-owned and controlled corporations and a portion of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge.

The bill has been pending with the Committee on Ecology, chaired by Rep. Danilo Ramon S. Fernandez since October 2010. A counterpart measure, Senate Bill 2558, authored by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, was subjected to its first public hearing late last year. — JJAC and NMG, BUsinessworld