As the whole country continues to bear the heat of El Niño, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has introduced a couple of projects to help mitigate its effects: Local Adaptation to Water Access (LAWA), and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (BINHI).
As part of these projects, 166 beneficiaries in Patnanungan, Quezon, have recently begun building water harvesting systems and gardening projects. Keep on reading to learn more about them!
Image Credit: MSWDO Patnanungan / Facebook
Project Beneficiaries in Quezon Build Water Harvesting Systems
“With Project LAWA at BINHI, we want to strengthen the adaptive capabilities of poor and vulnerable families to mitigate the impact of food insecurity and water scarcity brought about by the drought especially this time that we are experiencing scorching heat throughout the country,” DSWD Asst. Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao stated on Monday, April 29, as cited in a DSWD press release.
Earlier, from April 17 to 19, the project beneficiaries in Patnanungan underwent comprehensive training on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, as well as practical skills like water harvesting, gardening, hydroponics, and vermicomposting.
After the training, the beneficiaries began the repair and construction of water harvesting systems. They also started community and school-based gardening projects, with a target completion date of May 15.
According to Asst. Sec. Dumlao, the project shall provide learning and development sessions (LDS) on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR). It also involves cash-for-training (CFT) and cash-for-work (CFW) to beneficiaries in priority areas that are most exposed to the effects of El Niño.
Dumlao further explained that the interventions in the priority areas 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 — and not just in areas near major river basins as identified by the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change.
Moreover, as part of the project, DSWD shall provide each beneficiary with the daily minimum regional wage of PHP 470, in exchange for their attendance to the training and participation in the project implementation in their respective communities.
Notably, Projects LAWA and BINHI will be implemented in 300 cities and municipalities within 58 provinces around the Philippines. In each locality, a total of 10 will be done, with around 50 partner beneficiaries joining CFT and CFW activities. The target beneficiaries of the project include farmers, fisher folk, indigenous peoples, and other families living in disaster-vulnerable areas.
Image Credit: MSWDO Patnanungan / Facebook
Final Thoughts
Projects LAWA and BINHI are very timely, indeed, especially as we continue to experience the effects of El Niño. By involving entire communities in such projects, dealing with natural calamities shall certainly become easier for everyone.
Speaking of calamities, check out this article to read more about the Disaster Response Management Bureau (DRMB) of the DSWD, and how it responds to different types of emergencies.