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REGIONAL CENTER for ASIA2013 No. 2

Overcoming poverty through innovation and community empowerment International Institute of Rural Reconstruction

Headquarters, Regional Center for Asia, Philippine Program, YC James Yen Center, Aguinaldo Hi-way, Silang, Cavite, Philippines 4118, Phones: +63 430 0016, email: asiaprogram@iirr.org, www.iirr.org

InsideProtection from the storm .............................. 3Sharing and learning with our community ....... 4Community testimonials ................................... 4-5 Habiba Sarabi graced IIRR ............................. 6Facilitating writeshops ..................................... 6Delving into resilience ..................................... 7Ready...set...action! ........................................ 7The grass is greener at home: Boren’s story .. 8International training on food security ............. 8LLU’s 5th year service learning with IIRR ...... 9SSCBDA-Staging community experiences ........ 9Integrating nutrition in grade school curriculum. 9

HANDOUT PHOTO BY NOAA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Taken from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/131106-supertyphoon-haiyan-yolanda-philippines/

Typhoon Haiyan, the Philippines’ tipping point to improve disaster risk reduction

Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines on November 8. The country was devastated. The government was faced with the major challenge of the providing immediate aid to affected populations. A month after, more than 5,700 lives

are lost and still counting, we stare at the disaster’s impact on the people, and the nation’s economy.

As the nation mourns the loss of lives of people caught unaware of the strength of the typhoon and extent of its impact, deaths are not the only consequence of disasters. The cost of relief aid and reconstruction, damage to agriculture and livelihoods, disruptions in power, communications and labor take its toll on the country’s economy and the survivors. According to the UNISDR, the estimated economic loss from disasters is at USD 15 billion, 5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Typhoons Ketsana and Parma in 2009 cost the Philippines 2.7% of its GDP in that year.

The latest report from HSBC looked at the macro-economic impacts of Typhoon Haiyan citing that it “highlight[ed] a structural challenge that must be addressed—low investment in infrastructure and inadequate disaster preparedness.” HSBC reported that despite rapid population growth, spending in infrastructure development has declined from 5.6% to 3% share of the GDP of the country. Infrastructure spending would have upgraded vital lifelines of roads, airports and bridges to make these disaster-resilient. The low provision of decent and appropriate housing for the country’s poor may have increased the disaster losses of Haiyan. In the same report, the Aquino administration targets to increase infrastructure spending to 5% of the GDP by 2016.

Typhoon Haiyan and its aftermath is the turning point for the world in disaster risk management, commented head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström. Typhoon Haiyan will surely open up more discussions towards 2015 when the world meets again in Japan to craft a new framework agreement on disaster reduction. In 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami brought forth the Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA) that laid down the priorities of countries in reducing disaster risk. It allowed a widespread

Wilson John Barbon

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acceptance by governments and development agencies that disasters are not natural events; they are created by the incapacities of individuals and communities to cope with the effects of hazards.

In a report by the NDRRMC in 2011 on the progress of the Philippines in its commitment to the HFA, the government recognized the need for more DRR and preparedness actions at the local level. The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act was approved in 2010. The new law focuses more on disaster risk reduction than disaster relief and response, emphasizing participatory disaster risk reduction and an integrated approach to social development as a framework to reduce disaster risk. It provided a comprehensive understanding that disasters happen mainly because people and communities are vulnerable and cannot cope. The national government provided budgeting guidelines on the use of the DRR Management Trust Fund which is 5% of the total allotment for local governments.

The government resolved to improve early warning information especially for hydro meteorological events. The Doppler radars spread along the Pacific coastline of the Philippines help in getting information on rainfall intensity and typhoon tracking. More automatic weather stations have been installed all over the country to capture more accurate weather conditions. The science department of the government can now provide early warning information on storm surges and tsunamis through Project NOAH or Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards. It uses an IT network that seeks to automate data gathering, modelling, and information output for flood forecasts. The icing of this early warning cake is its availability on the Internet and can be accessed on smartphones. PAGASA, the national weather government agency has also joined social media like Facebook and Twitter to provide the public with early warning information.

Despite progress in putting disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction a national priority, it did not translate to local priorities of many local governments. Not much has been done to monitor the DRRM fund’s actual use. In most cases, the DRR Trust Fund is mismanaged or misappropriated. Information sharing is wanting and most disaster information are still fragmented. A more organized and systematic preparedness strategy using all these early warning information is lacking.

Of the thousands of villages and municipal local governments in the country, very few have functional and sound contingency plans

and preparedness exercises such as drills and simulations. Local governments’ capacity to assess disaster risks and vulnerabilities are still limited. For those with contingency plans, many are still disconnected to the response plans at the provincial, regional and national levels. There needs to be a comprehensive risk assessment in all communities especially in areas where people are exposed to hazards on a daily basis. These risk assessments will enable the government to identify safe locations and can be used to design and implement risk reduction measures. Preparedness, drills and evacuations should include projections of worst case scenarios.

These are the contexts in which IIRR steers its program direction in disaster risk reduction in the Philippines. IIRR continues to build working models and demonstrate that community-management approaches to risk reduction and resilience are possible. The program engages local governments in the area of capacity building which is urgently needed. Typhoon Haiyan and the previous four major disasters should serve as wake-up call for a marching order to strengthen local governments’ disaster risk reduction and preparedness.

Resilience building requires not just addressing the obvious such as disaster preparedness and early warning but more of addressing the root causes of disaster risk which is poverty, poor development programming of local communities, and climate change.

The latest Assessment Report No. 5 (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggested that if nothing changes in the amount of greenhouse gases, tropical wet regions will experience more intense and frequent extreme rainfall and sea-level rise. Filipino villages facing the Pacific Ocean will likely experience more typhoons such as Haiyan.

To finance climate change adaptation, the Philippine government created the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) law in 2012 that mandates a Php 1Bn initial funding. It has not been funded until now, where bicameral deliberations approved the mandated budget but it is “unprogrammed”. This means that the money will still not go to the PSF and implementation may take until 2016.

Resilience building needs not just international commitments but local action. IIRR shares the vision of many that despite the losses and devastation, like the mythical phoenix, the Philippines will rise up from the ashes and make this the tipping point to correct the social ills that makes the Philippines highly at risk to climate change and disasters.

• is located along the boundaries of the Pacific Ocean, a vast expanse of warm water where extreme weather events form.

• records an average of 20 typhoons per year that enter its area of responsibility. Typhoon Haiyan was the 24th typhoon that hit the country in 2013. A day after Haiyan left the country, another tropical depression entered via the Mindanao Island.

• is part of the “Pacific ring of fire”, a network of active volcanoes and tectonic plates that generate volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in the Philippines, Indonesia and Hawaii.

• is home to 220 volcanoes (22 of which are active).

• is one of the countries in the world most affected by disasters. Less than a month before Typhoon Haiyan, a non-volcanic earthquake shook Central Visayas destroying century-old Spanish era churches, major highways, bridges and even the world famous Chocolate Hills.

Map taken from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/asia_map.htm

The Philippines

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Prior to our interventions in the village of Muzon, in Rosario, Cavite, Philippines, nobody from the community ever took notice

of the few remaining large api-api (Avicennia alba) trees in the community. The mangrove species' primary use was as shade to a few adults, mostly women, who play bingo in the afternoons at a location referred to as Irasan. Irasan is a local term for salt-beds as salt-making used to be a thriving livelihood in Muzon. In some households, Api-api is also used as fences.

Community leaders were awed to discover the big role api-api may play— along with other trees that are found in sparse numbers in the community—in increasing their chances of lessening the possible negative impacts of storm surges.

Community leaders recognized the affordability and effectiveness of increasing their coastal vegetation as a strategy to increase their resilience against extreme weather events through IIRR's disaster risk reduction interventions in Rosario.

It was also a pleasant realization for them that api-api, coconut and Talisay (Terminalia catappa) all thriving in the community, are very easy to propagate.

The community had a few sessions to learn the basics of nursery establishment and management. In a span of a few months, community leaders, together with volunteer members from the community, have successfully propagated around 200 to 300 assorted seedlings of api-api, coconut and talisay. They grow the seedlings in a makeshift nursery constructed using locally available resources such as unused fishing nets, unused steel frames and scrap wood from the recently constructed village hall. They are now just waiting for the opportune time for the seedlings to mature further to start transplanting them to their coasts.

The sheer simplicity of having a small area in the community for propagating and raising seeds and seedlings also inspired community members in a way that the nursery's seed bed (originally designed for coastal species) is also now used for propagating vegetables and other crops. Some community leaders are now contemplating on establishing a larger seed bed and or nursery and other simple ways to support activities that can increase their protection from storm surge.

Protection from the stormRene Vidallo

Above: A youth taking care of the nursery in Muzon 1. Below: Planting talisay along the coast.

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Philippines - Each of our interventions on the ground has its own community. The disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (DRR/CCA) program works with nine pilot villages and the municipal office of Rosario, Cavite. The food security and wealth creation program works with the villages, the municipal office of agriculture and the local government of Guinayangan, Quezon. We also work with the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Departmen of Science and Technology, the Department of Education and different schools in Cavite, and with the Batas Multipurpose Cooperative. Together, they are IIRR Philippines’ learning community.

A talakayan was held September 22 among our community. It was an afternoon of heart warming stories that inspired members of the board of trustees and the global management team who were visiting and having their meetings on campus. Talakayan is a tagalong term for discussion, a sharing of thoughts and ideas, a way to learn.

The community shared more than experiences and learning but also their vision, passion and the relationship with IIRR. Everyone was engaged in animated discussions during the gallery walk. Booths from the various projects were set up. The communities showcased their produce and products such as plants, trees, photo exhibits of activities in the villages, pineapple fiber products, and nutritious food recipes, among others. Early warning signals, safety and preparedness gears and other equipment for disaster response and preparedness were showcased at the DRR/CCA booth. Publications and other information and communication materials were also featured.

George Sycip, board member and supporter of the BIG program and Pamela Nyamutoka, Country Director of IIRR Uganda, on behalf of IIRR board and colleagues, noted the hard work of community partners. They encouraged them to continue working with IIRR to help more people in need.

Sharing and learning with our community

Gardening is a big help for our family. I sell the vegetables to our neighbors. I earn enough for my child’s allowance and needs in school and to pay for our electric bill. I don’t buy vegetables anymore for our everyday food, I just buy fish. For

example, with my five meter lettuce plot, I am able to earn Php500. For okra, I earn an income of Php500 a week.

Thank you for giving and teaching me how to use the net for my garden. Now I can plant additional crops that can demand a higher price. The net is very effective in protecting leafy vegetables from pests.

Next year I can already sell the offspring of the two female goats lent to me by IIRR. We are also thankful that we were taught to establish a feed garden with napier and guinea grass that would provide the right nutrition for our goats. We do not need to bring our goats to distant grazing area. These are in addition to our madre cacao (gliricidia sepium) and ipil-ipil (lead tree). I really enjoy taking care of the goats. I bring them out under the sun when it’s not raining. I pet the baby goats at night before I leave their cage.

The first batch of farmers that were part of the livestock project of IIRR was trained to conduct meetings. During these meetings we share our experiences and exchange individual practices, techniques and methods in growing healthy goats. We are also happy that we are given seminars in proper goat management by the Office of Agriculture.

I hope that a lot of people will also be given the same blessing that I received. I now have five goats from the two that was lent to me. I am now ready to transfer two goats to my neighbor as required by the project. My neighbor also needs the same opportunity that I had and I know that they are capable to raise goats. I will also share the knowledge I acquired to help them start.

Connie Umali AlfilerBarangay Himbubulo, Guinayangan Quezon

Community Testimonials

Barangay Ligtong is one of the many barangays in the town of Rosario, Cavite always affected by

flood. Fishing and drying fish are the main source of livelihood.

Our barangay was included in the nine pilot barangays for IIRR’s disaster risk reduction project. We learned how to conduct risk assessment for our main hazard which is flood. We were able to prepare our 5-year Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan. I still remember the camaraderie of all project barangays at IIRR where the DRR training was held for three days.

Ronald Q. VictorBarangay CaptainLigtong III, Rosario Cavite

Because of the IIRR project, I and our barangay are now more aware as we now see what should be seen and do what should be done for our five-year village plan.

IIRR provided Php20,000 support fund which we used to start mitigation projects like cleaning of our canals and de-clogging of our rivers as identified during our risk assessment. But it was not enough. I was determined to see change in our community, so I gathered enough courage and sought the mayor and the governor's help.

After a few months, I was elated with the action they took to respond to our request. The result was a combination of dredging and canal widening of our river which made the water flow freely without obstruction. Because of this improvement, we became beneficiary of the KALAHI CIDSS project. We suggested that they use the funds to support more dredging and de-clogging of our canals in the village.

Currently we continue to clean our canals to ensure good flow of water and lessen flooding in our barangay. We cannot do this without the help of our volunteers who are tireless in their effort to serve our community.

Emily Oro

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The IIRR team met with our local government officials to present IIRR’s plan to partner and collaborate on various programs for our municipality. Our municipality warmly welcomed them as we saw the opportunity to join forces and

address the challenges that our farmers face today as we can feel the changes in season and extreme weather occurrences that affect our agricultural production.

We have heard of climate change and its impacts to communities, especially for a small agricultural town like us. We are fortunate that IIRR has introduced a package of climate smart agricultural approaches to make our farmers ready to cope with the changing climate.

Initially they introduced systems of rice intensification (SRI). SRI is different from the usual rice farming practices of our farmers. It was initially met with lukewarm response. The few that dared to try the new system have seen the initial benefits and slowly the interest in SRI is spreading among our farmers.

The introduction of madre cacao as a green leaf fertilizer made the plant functional as it was seen only as a fence. We became aware of the concept of low input rice production or reducing farmers’ reliance to external inputs. IIRR’s introduction of drought resilient rice varieties has increased farmer’s access to crop varieties that are appropriate to their conditions. The WADO and Gift 12 rice varieties shared by IIRR are slowly spreading in the barangays. Our partnership in livestock production has provided our farmers alternative income in case of crop failure. Livestock production also helps in nutrient cycling. Farmers use manure for their gardens and it complements our vermin-composting project.

Farmers are always excited to grow crop varieties introduced by IIRR as these are drought tolerant and seeds can be propagated and re-planted again (open pollinated varieties) unlike hybrid varieties. Our farms are rainfed and IIRR is aware of the long droughts in our area. IIRR is encouraging farmers to diversify their usually mono-crop plots. This is also our vision for the upland. The pineapple, high value fruit trees, nutrient rich root crops have increased our crop varieties. Slowly farmers are realizing the benefit of diversifying their crops.

We were also introduced to IIRR’s farmer-centered and group oriented approach. This complements our farmer field schools. Farmer’s day provides farmers the opportunity to share their knowledge to their peers. Our farmers are also trained to teach other farmers thus helping us with our extension work.

IIRR has collaborated with us in protecting and developing our watershed. Closely working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, we are on track in involving all relevant stakeholders in the management and concern for this valuable resource of our municipality.

We look forward to more productive partnership with IIRR as we continue to make a difference in the lives of our constituents.

Belina RosalesMunicipal Agriculturist, Guinayangan, Quezon

On February 1, 2010, I was asked to report to the district office of Ternate for an interview. The principal of Ternate Central School at that time asked me if I know how to tend a garden. Without any hesitation, I automatically said Yes! I didn’t

dare say no for fear of not getting the job. So we visited the school garden and I was told to do everything I know about gardening because there was an evaluation happening in one month’s time.

After she left, I started feeling worried and challenged at the same time. How do I make the garden bloom with plants in 30 days? The plants were barely growing.

When I went home, I looked for seedlings around my neighborhood. I was able to secure a couple of tomatoes, cabbages, and eggplants. I planted them the next day. After a week, to my dismay, they weren’t growing. In my frustration, I bought chemical fertilizer and applied it around the vegetables. Finally! I observed some changes. In a few weeks time, I was happy that the garden was ready for the evaluation.

I continued the same practice of using chemical fertilizers. After some time I had to buy chemical pesticides because I started to see pest infestation. At some point, I realized that it was very difficult to maintain a nice garden throughout the year. Because I got tired tending the garden, I only had few crops each season.

Within the same year, I attended a bio-intensive gardening training at IIRR. It was my first training on gardening. I came across the terms “diversification”, “crop rotation”, “minimum tillage”, “cover cropping”, “ecological balance”, among others. It was only a three-day training but I started to regain my passion for gardening and working with nature in general. It was also then that I realized that one’s outlook about one’s job is more important than the skill that one possesses. At that time, agriculture to me was not something to be excited about.

After the training, I employed what I have learned. I started to plant fertilizer trees such as madre cacao and ipil-ipil. I planted various types of vegetables in the garden. In a few months time, pest infestation was reduced due to diversified crops and also because I don’t plant the same vegetable after each harvest. I completely stopped using chemical inputs and surprisingly I still manage to maintain the garden’s productivity. I started appreciating every single organism in the garden and I came to understand that nature has its way of rewarding those who work with it. After a few months, I was able to contribute some vegetables to the feeding center.

I’m not an agriculture major but I love to garden. I believe this makes me more than qualified for my job. My enthusiasm didn’t stop in school; I was able to apply my learning at home. I started to grow vegetables in front of my house and later my neighbors started doing the same. My neighbors had a hard time believing I’m a teacher because they see me tilling the soil most of the time.

Many teachers do not appreciate and even look down on agriculture. But I enjoy it. I am grateful that I became part of the school at the time the IIRR project was implemented. Today, I am a more confident teacher and I can talk about gardening to anyone.

Silvestre D. AlanoAgriculture Teacher Ternate Elementary School, Cavite

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The Ramon Magsaysay (RM) Awards is said to be Asia’s Nobel Peace Prize. IIRR and our founder YC James Yen have been

recipients of this prestigious honor. This year, IIRR proudly welcomed 2013 RM awardee Habiba Sarabi on September 2 at the Yen Center campus in Cavite, Philippines.

The 57-year old doctor and mother of three is the only female governor in Afghanistan. She is the first woman to hold this position in the history of the country. “Sarabi was recognized for her bold exercise of leadership to build up a functioning local government against great odds—intractable political adversities, a harsh and impoverished environment, and pervasive cultural discrimination—serving her people with a hopeful persistence grounded in her abiding commitment to peace and development in Afghanistan,” according to a Ramon Magsaysay Foundation (RMF) report.

Habiba Sarabi graced IIRR Mae-anne Llanza

Facilitating writeshopsIIRR Asia facilitated a writeshop

to document good practices and lessons learned for the Partners

Habiba Sarabi (left) giving a presentation as IIRR board of director, a representative from the office of the Mayor Silang, Cavite, and Regional Center for Asia Director look on.

and how it is affecting the people. The discussion also talked about going to the people and learning from them which is IIRR’s credo, among others. Sarabi stressed that remaining strong and firm is key, along with being able to work with leaders and

protecting the interest of the people.

We have been fortunate to have dialogues with RM awardees who also happen to be IIRR friends, maximizing the time that they are in the country to receive their awards.

The open forum revolved around good governance, the challenges Sarabi faced as a female leader in Afghanistan, her priority projects, the importance of education particularly for girls, the changing climate both literally and figuratively in Afghanistan

Mae-anne Llanza

Colleagues from Indonesia flash a smile during the writeshop.

for Resilience (PfR) implementation in Philippines and Indonesia. Supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge

Network and engaged by the Red Cross Climate Centre, the writeshop was held in Bali, Indonesia last 3 to 9 June. Twenty-eight participants (20 females and 8 males) came to the writeshop from PfR partners such as Philippine Red Cross, Care partners in the Philippines (ACCORD, Agri Aqua Development, and Corporate Network for Disaster Response), Red Cross Indonesia, Care Indonesia and Wetlands Indonesia.

Some 24 case stories were developed. The stories discussed initial gains in building community resilience through the integration of disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and ecosystems management and restoration. IIRR coordinates the Linking and Learning agenda of PfR Philippines.

Then on July 17-19 at Bohol, Philippines, IIRR Asia facilitated a writeshop for the World Agroforestry Centre (formerly ICRAF) on gender research methods. Participants and technical experts who attended were based in Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Kenya, Malawi, Cameroon, Canada, Germany and the Philippines.

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In September, Bruno Haghebaert, Global Disaster Risk Reduction Adviser of Red Cross Netherlands spent some

time with IIRR. He was one of the key people who conceptualized the Partners for Resilience (PfR), an alliance of Dutch organizations implementing resilience building through integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA) and ecosystems management and restoration (EMR). IIRR, in partnership with PfR member Cordaid, is involved in the linking and learning component of PfR in the Philippines. This led to a good working relationship with Haghebaert and Red Cross Netherlands.

While at IIRR, Haghebaert worked with IIRR-Philippines to inform IIRR staff and various organizations on the concept of resilience and the issues and challenges in resilience building. IIRR staff realized that resilience building is very much similar to IIRR’s rural reconstruction framework. The need to come up with simple indicators for resilience was also raised.

On September 13, the resilience framework was presented to more organizations during a roundtable discussion. Sixteen organizations represented by local CSOs,

Delving into resilience Emily Oro

Filming—especially if participatory where concept, script, actual filming and editing are done by community members—is fun while learning.

These were the comments of the project implementation team members (6 male and 5 female) from the three villages of Muzon I, Muzon II and Sapa III. The 3-day participatory video was conducted last August 6-8 in Barangay Muzon I, Rosario, Cavite, Philippines.

The videos recreated and captured their earned and learned life-saving skills and disaster preparedness systems set-up in their villages. Video topics included early warning system, bandaging techniques, splinting and immobilization techniques and emergency rescue and transfer methods.

The videos aim to educate, share techniques and showcase the preparedness of the three villages in Rosario.

Ready...set… action!Participatory video: the CERT way

Jhun Gonzalo

Bruno Haghebaert discussing resilience with the IIRR staff.

INGOs, national line agencies and the provincial government of Cavite gathered at the Yen Center to learn about the integration and the approach towards resilience.

The roundtable presented the three-pronged approach in achieving resilience that is currently being use by PfR in nine countries globally. Haghebaert highlighted that in any development project, the incorporation of DRR, CCA and EMR should

be present, to achieve community resilience.

Participants shared their efforts in resilience building and the integration of DRR and CCA in the various areas and sectors such as livelihoods, agriculture, education, including people with disability. Issues in implementing an integrated approach such as funds, donor focus, etc. were also raised. Everyone committed to initiate efforts towards resilience building.

Community leaders applying their filming skills

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Boren Mouyhorng was born in 1996 to a poor family in Roum Chek village, Svay Proteal commune, Saang District, Kandal Province, Cambodia. She is the eldest of four children. Her parents grow vegetables as their main source of livelihood.

She dropped out of school when she finished grade nine in 2012 because her parents had no money to support her studies.

She studied Korean to work in Korea but she still could not go even after the language classes because she was under legal working age. So Boren worked for a local textile industry near home to earn additional income to support her family.

Aside from factory work, she also helps her parents with vegetable farming. Her family and other farmers in the village usually face problems in the farm such as weeds, insects, and diseases caused by too much pesticide and chemical fertilizers. They lose profit when the price of vegetables is low. For some time, Boren’s family lacked food to eat, and became poorer in each passing year.

To acquire innovative techniques in practicing sustainable vegetable production, her family volunteered their farm for an experiment on alternative vegetable growing—a project with support from IIRR. They tried new ways of planting on one part of their farm. They recorded the vegetable growing process and results everyday. Boren is active in experimenting and learning new techniques that require less external inputs including chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Her family gained more income from vegetable farming and is now slowly seeing good produce and profit.

Boren has decided not to go to Korea.

The grass is greener at home: Boren’s story

IIRR in collaboration with Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) conducted the international training course on Addressing

household food security in the context of changing climate and environment. This was held in Nepal on September 9-18.

The first part of the course was spent in Kathmandu, where lectures and discussions were conducted on basic concepts of food security and climate change and adaptation approaches to agriculture. These were facilitated by both IIRR team and local Nepali resource persons. The second half of the course was conducted in Chitwan. Participants went on field visits to selected communities that showcase integrated agriculture production that are resilient to climate change. The communities represented lowland, midland and upland ecosystems.

Seventeen people attended the course (8 female, 9 male) from 6 countries from international NGOs working on livelihoods, value chain development, health, program management, humanitarian relief and disaster risk reduction. They had two days to visit all communities and interact with the residents.

Participatory methods were used during the interactive lecture sessions including small group learning exercises, video presentation, and reflection/discussions. Participants used participatory tools to interact with the community during their field visits such as focus group discussions, open space discussion and key informant interviews. Participants appreciated the balanced approach of providing concepts with practical approaches and actual community experiences in Nepal.

Catherine Gearing a participant from the Australian Red Cross has this to say: “Big thanks for the passion, dedication and hard work from IIRR and RRN, it was a fantastic course; I learned a lot and feel really inspired at the end of the course.”

International training on food security Wilson Barbon

Above: Women selling their produce at the market Below: A workshop at the community

IIRR Cambodia

Boren Mouyhorng at their farm

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The Loma Linda University (LLU) School of Public Health worked with IIRR Philippine Program for their service learning activity

for the 5th year. Eleven (10 female and 1 male) masters students focused on two topics: a study on the links of child malnutrition to maternal health in Ternate, Cavite, and; teenage pregnancy and teen empowerment in Rosario, Cavite. The results serve as a baseline data for the Philippine Program’s program development efforts to integrate health in existing initiatives.

LLU’s 5th year service learning with IIRR

LLU students with the community in Rosario, Cavite, Philippines

As a key intervention for the research Integrated approach to address food and nutrition security, teachers worked together to prepare modules and lesson plans to integrate nutrition concepts in the school curriculum for Grades 1-3. A training

of trainers on nutrition education was held last August 30-31 at the Yen Center in IIRR, Cavite, Philippines. Teachers were given an orientation on basic nutrition concepts like the value of eating fruits and vegetables, improving lesson plans integrating nutrition, and

demonstrating how the lesson plans can be taught to students.

Topics such as understanding nutrition concepts, challenges in maintaining nutrition at home, basic food groups, vitamins and minerals and their sources, and nutritional guidelines were discussed. The Department of Education partners provided inputs on innovative teaching methodologies. During the teaching demonstration, some teachers acted as students. Areas for revisions to enhance the lesson plans were identified.

The modules and lesson plans integrating nutrition will be piloted in two research school sites in Cavite to serve as a model to the whole province and to the whole country.

Integrating nutrition in grade school curriculum

Teachers in animated group discussions dur-ing the training

Christy Tacugue

The 7th South to South Citizenry Based Development Academy (SSCBDA) conference gathered local government units, national government agencies, local and international NGOs, the academe and communities implementing and

championing the integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA) and ecosystems management and restoration (EMR).

Organized by the Partners for the Resilience (PfR) Philippines, it was held October 7-11 in Butuan City, Philippines with this year’s theme Bayanihan Tungo sa Ligtas at Matatag na Pamayanan (Spirit of cooperation towards a safe and resilient community). The conference provided cross learning and sharing of experiences, good practices and lessons learned in implementing the integrated approach. One of the highlights was the parallel session where communities shared their experiences in implementation. The

parallel sessions focused on: The central role of partnership; Expanding urbanization and growing concerns; DRR and the sectoral approach; The role of tools, and; DRR, CCA and EMR interrelation and integration.

Local partners shared and showcased their learning materials and community products at the “market-market”. A one-day field visit was also conducted at Talacogon, Agusan del Sur where participants saw how local partners implement their project in the field.

A call to action to integrate DRR, CCA and EMR for disaster resilient communities led by PfR Philippines was drafted at the end of the conference. A thunder clap also signified the support to the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction which supports the inclusion of persons with disabilities in every aspect of achieving community resilience.

SSCBDA-Staging community experiences Jhun Gonzalo

Maggie Rosimo