THE WORLD Bank’s Board of Executive Directors in Washington D.C. approved last June 29 a $4.974-million grant for the Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP), which is designed to enable rural communities cope with the effects of climate change.
A World Bank statement quoted Country Director Bert Hofman as saying that the project is designed to enhance rural communities’ capacity to adapt to climate change by improving farm management capability, enhancing access to information on weather forecasting and climate patterns, and improving access to risk management options such as weather index insurance, among others.
“The primary beneficiaries of this grant include poor farmers, who often suffer climate-related losses, and other vulnerable groups that depend on natural resources for their livelihoods,” Mr. Hofman said in the release.
The CCAP involves:
- supporting integration of climate change adaptation into the agriculture and natural resources sectors and strengthening the capabilities of relevant state agencies like the Climate Change Commission, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture in addressing climate change impact;
- developing climate change adaptation strategies for the agriculture and natural resources sectors through measures like “climate-proofing” irrigation infrastructure, enhancing delivery and effectiveness of extension services for farm-level climate risk management, pilot-testing the feasibility of weather index-based crop insurance, and strengthening climate change resilience through improved management of protected areas; and
- improving the access of end users, especially in the agriculture and natural resources sectors, to more reliable scientific information that would enable more rapid, accurate decision making for climate risk management.
The $4.974-million grant for the CCAP will come from the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund that is administered by the World Bank.
The same project will also be supported with $40.45 million co-financing from the Participatory Irrigation Development Project and another $10 million from the Environment and Natural Resources Management Project, two ongoing government projects which are also financed by the World Bank.
The Bank noted that the Philippines is one of the countries most exposed to climate change risks like typhoons, floods, landslides and drought.
In late-September to early-October last year, tropical storm Ondoy, followed closely by typhoon Pepeng, caused massive floods and landslides that resulted in an estimated P38 billion worth of damage to infrastructure, crops, homes and businesses, as well as nearly 1,000 people killed or missing in an area stretching from Metro Manila to northern Luzon.
The country is also periodically affected by the El Niño weather pattern that brings prolonged dry spells — like the one that lasted from December to May that led to a 2.84% drop in agriculture production in the first quarter.
El Niño strains water resources due to low inflows into major watersheds and reservoirs. During El Niño-driven drought, water for agriculture has, at times, been totally cut in favor of domestic and industrial water supply, causing losses in agriculture and more hardship for the rural poor.
“This project is consistent with the government’s priorities with respect to poverty reduction and sustainable development, particularly given that the poorest segments of the Philippines’ population depend on agriculture and natural resources for their livelihood,” said Mr. Hofman. “It will help increase the resilience of poor rural communities to climate change impact, improve food security, and maintain the integrity of ecological systems.”
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