Case Studies UNDP: KALINGA MISSION FOR INDIGENOUS CHILDREN AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT INC (KAMICYDI), Philippines

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: KALINGA MISSION FOR INDIGENOUS CHILDREN AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT INC (KAMICYDI), Philippines

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Philippines

KALINGA MISSION FORINDIGENOUS CHILDRENAND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT,INC. (KAMICYDI)

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude KAMICYDI, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Donato Bumacas. All ph

credits courtesy o KAMICYDI. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Kalinga Mission or Indigenous Children and Youth Development, Inc. (KAMICYDI), Philippi

Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdf


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Kalinga Province is situated in the Cordillera Administrative Region

the northern Philippines island o Luzon. The Cordilleras mountain

alleys are home to the indigenous Kalinga people, whose main

velihood activity is arming on hillside rice terraces. This activity

elies heavily on the conservation o mountain orest biodiversity

nd the health o local watersheds, including the Chico River system.

A people and way o lie under threat

n response to various threats to the provinces natural heritage

nd persistently low levels o social development during the

980s, a group o student leaders came together to ound the

Dananao Students Organization (DSO), a group that would lay theoundations or the ormation o the Kalinga Mission or Indigenous

Communities and Youth Development, Inc. (KAMICYDI) in the 1990s.

hese students and young people aimed to conront the widespread

overty o the Kalinga people, the loss o their traditional culture,

he eects o armed confict, poor delivery o social services, and

heir marginalisation within the Philippines development sphere.

he Kalinga peoples valleys were also threatened by inrastructure

rojects proposed by the Philippines government which endangered

heir communities, sacred places, rice terraces, livelihoods, and

atural heritage. The Chico River Dam Project was a notable case, in

which an electric power generation project threatened the Kalinga

eoples ancestral domain. The Batong Buhay Gold Mines, under

he control o the Philippines government rom 1979, also hadignicant harmul environmental impacts. Local slash-and-burn

gricultural practices had urther contributed to the loss o orest

over and watershed degradation.

A youth-led response to environmental threats

KAMICYDIs response to these threats was to combine traditional

nd indigenous practices with modern technologies to develop

more sustainable agricultural practices, which were then promoted

mong the Kalinga tribes and other indigenous peoples in the

Cordillera region. Initially beginning in 1984, the Dananao Stud

Organisation provided outreach services to Kalingas indige

communities. Ancestral domain and environmental prote

were the main ocuses o these eorts. From 1987, this work

replicated in other areas o the Cordillera Administrative Re

by the Cordillera Association or Progress and Unity; in 1990

led to the ormation o the Kalinga Mission or Children and Y

Development, Inc. (KMCYD, Inc.), an organisation that woul

legally registered in 1996, and renamed the Kalinga Missio

Indigenous Communities and Youth Development, Inc. (KAMIC

in 2003.

Background and Context


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rom 1990 onwards, KAMICYDIs young leaders began pioneering

heir innovative approach, called Sustainable Indigenous Peoples

Agricultural Technology (or SIPAT). Project activities were ocussed

n enhancing the ecological integrity o orests, directly protecting

orests, and reorestation with endemic species; protecting

watersheds through agroorestry; the rehabilitation o indigenous

ommunal irrigation systems; and the production o rice, vegetables,

nd sh in hillside rice terraces. The primary objectives were to

mprove ood security by increasing agricultural productivity, andelping to conserve the mountains biological diversity.

Preserving indigenous and traditional heritage

hese twin goals have been pursued alongside eorts to preserve

Kalinga traditions and culture, particularly linked to their ancestral

omain lands. While the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (1997) o the

hilippines recognizes ancestral domains o indigenous cultural

ommunities, this has typically concerned spatial denitions such

s the barangay, which is the smallest politico-administrative unit

the Philippines, or has been applied to municipalities. The Kalinga

ommunities o Cordillera Province typically live within an area o

and known as an ili, a term in the Philippines or a geographical area

historically inhabited and deended by a homogeneous people

common ancestors. KAMICYDIs interaction with specic Ka

communities has taken place within the context o the ili; to

the initiative has worked with 54 such communities, or a tot

174,000 Kalinga people. Thanks to this work, the poverty ra

these communities has allen rom 72% in 1996 to 54% in 2

The Kalinga have also been able to conserve 90% o their

biodiversity during this time.

The SIPAT approach draws heavily on pre-existing technolo

and traditional arming approaches. For instance, KAMICYD

popularised ftu, a traditional system o hunting that has helpe

conserve orest cover. Watersheds have been protected throug

approach known as pinagwa, while ara is an indigenous irriga

system used or rice terraces. Decisions have been taken

participatory manner, including communities in the manageme

agricultural systems, in an indigenous governance system knowamung.

Finally, KAMICYDIs approach has also relied on multi-stakeho

partnerships to enable its large-scale education and policy advo

campaigns.


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Key Activities and Innovations

he sustainable agricultural techniques advocated by KAMICYDI

onsist o ve main components.

he rst o these is ftu orest management. According to indigenous

practices, when holes are dug in orested areas to trap animals

uch as wild boars or meat, it is prohibited to cut any tree within a

0-metre radius o the hole. This helps to conserve orest resources,

while simultaneously ensuring the sustainability o meat supplies.

Other activities incorporated within orest management include

on-site reorestation and orest maintenance. Outputs o this system

ave been the maintenance o 81% o orested lands in Kalinga

District, and 72% in the wider Cordillera region.

hepinagwasystem o securing watersheds entails amily ownership,

maintenance, management, and protection o the agricultural and

orested areas surrounding individual watersheds. Typically there

re prohibitions on any activities within a nine-metre radius o the

water source; trees are planted within 36 metres o the source to lter

he water. Restoration o these agroorestry ecosystems has helped

o maintain a total o 108 watersheds, allowing or the sustainable

rrigation o rice terraces.

Ara an indigenous communal irrigation system is the system

o channels that connect watersheds to rice elds. The purpose o

hese systems is to irrigate rice elds sustainably. Activities involved

n the ara system include the repair o existing channels andonstruction o new irrigation systems. Outputs have included 90

ystems that have been eectively repaired and rehabilitated, and

8 irrigation systems that have been newly constructed; these 108

ystems correspond to the watersheds that have been conserved,

nd maintain a continuous supply o water to local rice terraces.

y integrating rice terraces with sheries and vegetable production,

KAMICYDI has worked to diversiy ood sources or Kalinga

ommunities. Mud sh are reared in the rice elds, supplying an

dditional source o nutrition or armers. Water lilies and watercress

are also planted, while soy, nitrogen-rich mongo, and green,

and black bean plants are planted around the terraces to reduc

erosion and maintain the integrity o the terrace structures. A to126 hectares o rice terraces have been repaired and rehabilitate

addition to 27 hectares o rice terraces being newly created.

The nal element o KAMICYDIs approach to encoura

sustainable agricultural practices has been developing partners

with a variety o governmental and non-governmental a

working in Kalinga District. This has helped to replicate innov

agricultural approaches in new communities, and has also

important in coordinating advocacy eorts. To date, KAMICYD

partnered with nine local government units.


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Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

Thanks to the various components o the SIPAT approach, the

mountain biodiversity o Kalinga District has substantially recovered

rom its degraded state. In 1990, or instance, one-third o the areas

orest cover had been destroyed due to orest res and the practice

okaingin, a Tagalog phrase roughly equating to shiting, slash-and-

burn cultivation. Although there is some debate over the impacts

o kaingin, there is no doubt that where it was being extensively

employed or commercial purposes, this had led to substantial

habitat loss. One study estimated that Kalinga had lost one-quarter

o its biological diversity by the late 1980s.

A history o protection o indigenous ancestral domain

KAMICYDIs early eorts concentrated on coordinated advocacy

eorts to halt environmentally-destructive inrastructure projects,

as part o a wider eort on the part o the Kalinga and Bo

indigenous people. The Chico River Dam project was nally she

in 1987, while extraction at the Batong Buhay Gold Mines was h

in the mid-1980s in the ace o local resistance. Although

projects have subsequently been revived by successive Philip

governments, their interruption was seen as a signicant victo

the Kalinga people, and a landmark ancestral domain case. Ag

this backdrop, KAMICYDI began to introduce sustainable agricu

practices in local communities, helping to urther relieve pre

on the areas resources and encourage the regrowth o vegeta

Between 1990 and 2009, the area saw a 15.2% improveme

its biological diversity, according to a study by researchers

the University o the Philippines in Bagiou City. Two bird spreturned to the area thanks to improvements in habitat resu

rom reorestation and watershed protection schemes.

Forest conservation and reorestation benefts

Biodiversity monitoring is carried out on a continuous bas

KAMICYDI volunteers. Sampling is conducted in cluster plots

time to measure changes in fora and auna composition.

such method has involved 360-degree transect walks, involvin

community members. This walk has been repeated every ve y

Over 2,700 species have been recorded in the conserved orest

watershed areas. Monitoring has also been carried out in partne

with the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation (PTin one Kalinga community.

Specic benets have been seen in reorestation and water

protection, under the ftu and pinagwa components o the S

approach. In the ormer case, a total o 50,400 trees have

planted since 1990. This has involved 2,790 women volunteers:

been observed that women volunteers have typically been m

committed to maintaining tree seedlings ater planting, ens

that these regrowth eorts have been sustainable. To date, 90

Kalingas orests have been rehabilitated.


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Over 126 varieties o rice are planted in Kalinga; o these, 18 are

highly productive. This livelihood activity relies heavily on healthywatersheds and unctioning irrigation systems. Rice production

had decreased by 30.6% by 1996 due to the destruction o orest

cover and watersheds that in turn aected soil nutrient recycling

and reduced water supplies. Thepinagwa component o KAMICYDIs

approach to sustainable agriculture entailed the protection o 126

watersheds. By 2009, rice production had increased by 36% as

a result o KAMICYDIs intervention; the decrease resulting rom

deorestation had been recovered, and production had increased

by a urther 5.4%, testament to the benets o KAMICYDIs holistic

approach to ecosystem management.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

This increase in rice production has generated income or Kalinga

arming amilies. Based on a 28.8% increase in household incomes

or the projects direct beneciaries, poverty rates ell by 18%

between 1996 and 2009.

Rice elds are typically amily owned, passing rom athers to sons;

and is also bought and sold as a transaction, however. Each amily,

measured as at least six people, has at least 5-10 rice elds. One

hectare o land, or 20 rice elds, produces approximately 145-180

acks o rice. Each sack holds 50kg o raw rice, meaning that the

average Kalinga household produces a minimum o 2-4 tonnes o

ice per harvest.

To supplement this, KAMICYDIs integrated vegetable and shing

activities have seen 153 hectares o rice elds rehabilitated, and a

urther 72 hectares o elds newly constructed, allowing amilies

o diversiy sources income through rearing sh and growing

vegetables. This work has been supported by the promotion o

ustainable irrigation systems, or ara. The maintenance o 135 such

communal systems o canals supplying rice elds with water, plus

he construction o 54 new systems, has ensured that rice, sh and

vegetable production has been sustained over time.

Secondary benefts or communal wellbeing

The economic benets o increasing agricultural production

diversied income sources have led to urther social benet

Kalinga communities. In 1984, the school completion o the reg

indigenous children was only 6%; out o 100 pupils enrolled in G

I, only 6 would graduate to attend college. By 2009, this rate

increased to 18% across all o the communities KAMICYDI w

with. This indicates that increases in income allowed parents to

children in school or longer, rather than using them as labour i

rice elds.

Health and nutrition also improved due to KAMICYDIs interven

In 1984, third-degree malnutrition rates ranged rom 30-36% am

indigenous children (ages 1-5 years). By 2009, rates had allebetween 9-18% in the communities benetting rom KAMIC

SIPAT programme. This indicates that increased agricu

production translated into improved ood security as well as hi

incomes or arming amilies.

KAMICYDI has developed a programme ocussing on Kalingas yo

targeting young people who in many cases have ew econ

opportunities, and achieve only limited educational attainment

Young Entrepreneurship Skills programme provides developm

opportunities to both in-school and out-o-school youth. Thro

workshops and trainings, KAMICYDI has helped students acq

skills in entrepreneurship and business development.

Finally, KAMICYDIs Micronance Programme or Indigenous Wo

Entrepreneurs (MPIWE) has helped to underpin the sustaina

o the initiatives work by supporting indigenous womens gr

to develop weaving and organic household arming enterp

relieving pressures on ecosystems rom slash-and-burn ar

o cash crops. This programme builds the capacity o enterpr

Kalinga indigenous women by providing entrepreneurship

business planning training and provision o start-up capital or

environmentally riendly micro-enterprise businesses. By he

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women and youth to develop micro-enterprises, the initiative has

ttempted to support the development o long-term economic

lternatives to intensive agriculture.

POLICY IMPACTS

he main policy successes o the Kalinga Mission or Indigenous

Communities and Youth Development, Inc. have been in resisting

rojects that would have resulted in the destruction o theCordilleras biological diversity or Kalingas cultural heritage. These

rojects have either been directly proposed or sponsored by the

hilippines government, and have included various aspects o the

Chico River Dam Project and Batong Buhay Gold Mines. Both o these

rojects were shelved during the late 1980s, largely as the result o

he eorts o local and indigenous communities, with support rom

he international community. In this regard, the Kalinga people have

chieved a substantial degree o success in making their voices heard

t the national policy level. These projects remain in development,

owever, and continue to pose threats to the Kalinga peoples way

lie.

The importance o organizing or collective bargaining

A contrasting case is that o a geothermal energy project recently

egun in Kalinga, sponsored by Aragorn Power and Energy

Corporation and Guidance Management Corporation in partnership

with Chevron Corp., the largest producer o geothermal energy in

he world. The coalition o investors signed agreements with local

ommunities inhabiting ancestral domains within the proposed

reas or development, ater a majority o these communities gave

heir ree, prior, and inormed consent. These agreements stipulated

ompensation or local people in the orm o communal irrigation,

waterworks, construction and repair o roads, construction o school

uildings and day-care centres, support or local school boards, and

cholarship schemes or students. O these, only the scholarships

ave so ar been implemented, however, while some communities

ave argued that work began without their consent. The Cordillera

eoples Alliance (CPA) and the National Commission on Indigenous

eoples (NCIP) in Kalinga are attempting to ensure the development

the geothermal project is undertaken in an equitable ashion.

his case illustrates the mechanisms through which a high degree

organisation within the Cordilleras indigenous communities can

elp to ensure that they benet rom proposed investments in the

egion.

ositive impacts on public policy resulting rom community

rganising have been seen in other areas. Kalinga communitieslayed a role in the ormation o a commission or the Banaue Rice

erraces, part o the Iugao Rice Terraces, a Philippines National

Cultural Treasure. KAMICYDI was also one o the community-based

rganisations that infuenced the introduction o regulations

ermitting indigenous groups to make ancestral domain claims.

n 1993, the Philippines Department o Environment and Natural

esources (DENR) issued Department Administrative Order No. 2

hat sought to recognize, identiy and delineate areas occupied

y indigenous peoples. The Order provided or the issuance o

Certicates o Ancestral Domain Claim to eligible groups. Finally,

KAMICYDI also played a role in advocating or the passage o

Indigenous Peoples Rights Act o 1997, which laid the ounda

or the recognition o indigenous groups tenurial rights to

ancestral domains.

Network development and international advocacy

KAMICYDI has been able to have signicant impacts on po

making through a variety o tactics and strategies, both legal

illegal. These have included direct advocacy through street prot

although the organisation has only used peaceul meth

Within the Philippines, the organisations executive director

represented indigenous groups on several committees and adv

bodies at the local and national level, including provincial

municipal planning and development councils. KAMICYDI has

played a role in various networks o civil society actors which

helped to raise environmental awareness on a large scale withi

Philippines. These include KAPODON, CORDNET, and the Ca

o Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO). With six nat

networks and six regional networks, representing more than 1

development NGOs, peoples organizations and cooperatives i

Philippines, this network is the countrys largest coalition o N

working or social development.

The Kalinga Mission or Indigenous Communities and Y

Development, Inc. has also been able to leverage its voice on

international stage to advocate or change through organisa

such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

international media. The initiative gained international recogn

through the award o the UNDP Equator Prize 2004. The group

represented in the Sub-Committee on Biological Diversity as pa

the Philippines party to the COP 9 to the Convention on Biolo

Diversity (CBD) in Bonn, Germany, in 2008.

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Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYhe sustained success o KAMICYDIs work owes much to their

apacity building work with Kalinga communities, which has

ncorporated nancial and organisational management trainings

s well as instruction in sustainable agricultural techniques. These

gricultural and environmental practices have been rooted in

ndigenous and traditional knowledge systems, giving KAMICYDIs

lient communities a high level o ownership o their adoption.

o date, the organisation has acilitated 27 training sessions in

IPAT practices. Organisational and nancial management systems

ave been co-created with 72 development NGOs, 18 womens

rganizations and 36 Local Government Units (LGUs).

External support has also assisted the initiatives work, with tech

advice and nancial resources being provided by internat

NGOs. MPIWE has been supported by the Tribal Link Founda

while the Global Fund or Children has supported KAMICYDIs Y

Entrepreneurship Skills programme.

The continued success o sustainable agriculture in Ka

communities is threatened by various actors, however, inclu

the potential impacts o the Batong Buhay Gold Mines

the Chevron geothermal energy project. The key to resi

environmental degradation rom these projects is coordina

advocacy eorts through the networks o indigenous N

working in Kalinga, the Cordillera Region, and across the PhilippAmong these, KAPODON (the Kalinga-Apayao People-Orie

Development Organizations Network) works at the provincial l

bringing together 45 non-governmental and community-b

organisations and armers associations. This network has ocu

on building capacity around the issues o mining and geothe

energy exploration.

REPLICATION

The Kalinga Mission has achieved its success within Kalinga thro

a process o rapid replication o its model o sustainable agricu

practices. Beginning in one indigenous community (ili) in 1984

organisation had expanded to include a presence in 54 communby 2009. The ast pace and ease o replication o KAMICYDIs pac

o sustainable agricultural skills is due to their basis in tradit

methodologies and practices. As an indicator o the uptake rat

estimated 90% o the 174,000 community members across th

communities are actively employing SIPAT techniques.

Replication has been achieved through both armer-to-a

and community-to-community knowledge exchanges. A Far

Field School centre was also used to help train Kalinga arm

supplemented by ormal training and educational outreach sess


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rganised by KAMICYDI. SIPAT is taught in our modules: two o

hese are ormal, and are taught in workshops, while the latter two

modules are taught via practical demonstration sessions.

unding limitations have in some cases restricted the rate o

eplication rom community to community. Among the challenges

o knowledge exchange are traditional inter-tribal confict, limited

teracy, and a lack o inrastructure or storing knowledge or

ranser between generations. Problems o linguistic barriers havemeant that knowledge exchange has oten been highly expensive

nd time-consuming, requiring translation into dierent tribal

anguages. KAMICYDI has also recently begun seeking unds to

stablish a community knowledge centre that would act as a orum

or conducting training sessions and as a repository or storing data

nd inormation or use by armers.

PARTNERS

AMICYDI has benetted rom numerous partnerships with local,

egional, national, and international organisations, including

ighteen local government units, three NGO networks, two private

ector organisations, two national unding agencies, and ve

nternational organizations, all o which contributed to the success

the project.

Local Government Units (LGUs) within Kalinga Province: t

eighteen units have been KAMICYDIs primary partners in

implementation o SIPAT practices in indigenous communities.

Networks: Kalinga-Apayao People Oriented Developm

Organizations Network (KAPODON); Cordillera Network

Development NGOs (CORDNET); and Caucus o Development N

(CODE NGO). These networks have provided technical assistain implementation o the project, and have coordinated advo

eorts between indigenous peoples NGOs.

Private sector partners: Chamber o Kalinga Apayao Produ

Inc. (CKAPI) and ARANG Bank. These partners have suppo

KAMICYDIs micro-nance component.

Funding agencies: Philippine German Development Founda

(PhilGerFund) and UNDP-implemented GEF Small Grants Program

(USD 46,327, 2004-6).

International organizations: UNDP Equator Initiative, Ecoagricu

Partners, Global Fund or Children, The Nature Conservancy,

Tribal Link Foundation.


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Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

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New York, NY 10017

Tel: +1 646 781-4023

www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change

onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

FURTHER REFERENCE

KAMICYDI website: kalingamission.webs.com

KAMICYDI PhotoStory (Vimeo) vimeo.com/16732562

Click the thumbnails below to read more case studies like this:
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Case Studies UNDP: KALINGA MISSION FOR INDIGENOUS CHILDREN AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT INC (KAMICYDI), Philippines