FAO supports Philippines in strengthening climate change adaptation in agriculture
In a bid to intensify its efforts to cushion the agriculture sector from climate change impacts, the Philippines has joined a multi-country initiative that seeks to strengthen the capacities of governments to plan, fund and operationalize climate response strategies.
The “Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) programme,” which is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), focuses on strategic climate risk management. It also aims to accelerate the uptake of medium- and long-term risk reduction practices across the policy level, the agriculture industry and down to farming and fishing communities.
“Climate change is no longer a distant threat. The strong typhoons and droughts we have experienced in recent years have given us a preview of the severe implications it will continue to have on the agriculture sector and the related issues of national interest such as food security, economic growth and the eradication of rural poverty,” said FAO Representative in the Philippines José Luis Fernández.
Investing in resilience
“How well the agriculture sector performs in terms of contributing to the economy will be strongly linked to the amount of investment put into national climate change adaptation,” said Alicia Ilaga, Director of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Systems-wide Climate Change Office, which implements the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture.
Through NAP-Ag, FAO has started working with DA, the Climate Change Commission and the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. The early stages of the programme will involve technical assistance in re-evaluating and recalibrating current agricultural development strategies and budgeting processes with the objective of minimizing exposure to and losses from climate change risks. Efforts to map vulnerability to food insecurity will likewise be expanded, in addition to promoting risk-reduction mechanisms in agricultural and coastal communities. As part of the initiative, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will also provide policy guidance in mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and management in the Philippines’ Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan.
“We acknowledge that implementing climate adaptation measures, especially those that will entail systemic changes, may require external support in addition to what our national budget can cover. We will also explore such options under the NAP-Ag programme. This includes instruments within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, specifically those under the ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibility,’ which mandates developed nations to assist developing countries through the Global Environmental Facility and, recently, through the Green Climate Fund,” Ilaga added.
Building on gains
According to FAO, in middle-income or developing countries such as the Philippines, the crop, livestock, fisheries and forestry sectors bear over 20 percent of the economic impact caused by climate-related disasters. Moreover, the Philippines ranks third in the 2015 World Risk Index of the United Nations University for Environment and Human Security, which evaluates the risk of 171 countries to natural hazards.
In spite of being one of the most disaster-prone countries, the Philippines remains to be a leading example in building institutional capacities for managing and reducing risks of natural hazards and climate change. NAP-Ag will build on the results of several resilience projects jointly implemented by FAO and DA since 2009, including climate change adaptation capacity-building in the Cordilleras under the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund; the Japan-funded analysis and mapping of impacts under climate change for adaptation and food security; climate risk management strengthening in the Bicol Region under a technical cooperation arrangement between FAO and the Government; and more recently, the formulation of a National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Strategy under a multi-year programme financed by the European Commission Human Aid and Civil Protection Department, and a National La Niña Action Plan for the agriculture and fisheries sector.
The four-year NAP-Ag programme is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety through its International Climate Initiative. To date, it is being implemented in eight countries including the Philippines, Kenya, Nepal, Thailand, Uganda, Uruguay, Viet Nam and Zambia. These countries will also receive assistance in accessing climate financing from the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund.
“FAO remains committed to supporting the Government in achieving its development priorities. We also acknowledge that agriculture and climate change adaptation are crucial to the achievement of 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by UN member countries,” Fernández said.