UPLBFI launches Climate Information Services project in the Bicol Region

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – In partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office (RFO) 5 and the DA-Climate Resilient Agriculture Office (CRAO), the University of the Philippines Los Baños Foundation Inc. (UPLBFI) is set to develop a scalable Climate Information Services (CIS) platform in the Bicol region.

The project specifically seeks to develop a digital platform for tailored agro-advisory for farmers in climate risk vulnerable areas. This will be piloted in the Bicol Region together with experts from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (Alliance) and the Rice Watch Action Network Inc. (R1).

During the project launch on 27 October 2021 via Google Meet, Director Alicia Ilaga of the DA-CRAO highlighted the importance of the project in determining the best strategy to generate site-specific agro-advisories and employing appropriate tools to deliver these services to farmers.

Mr. Leo Kris Palao, Lead Technical Consultant of the project, then discussed the project overview. According to him, delivery of CIS in the country remains to be supply-driven with most of the advisories and recommendations coming from higher institutions before dissemination to the Local Government Units (LGUs). He also emphasized that weather information differs from one area to another as influenced by topography, hence, the recommendations to be given should be site-specific and tailored according to the needs of its intended users, particularly the smallholder farmers.

This was followed by the presentation of Ms. Jane Girly Balanza, Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist, on the activities of the project. A bottom-up approach will be employed in refining and harmonizing existing CIS products in the Philippines to develop the appropriate format and mode of delivery based on the identified needs and requirements of the farmers.

In collaboration with R1 headed by Director Hazel Tanchuling, the project will also scale out the Sagip service, a short messaging service (SMS) designed to deliver climate-based warnings to farmers, fishers, and other community members.

Ms. Luz Marcelino, Regional Technical Director (RTD) for Operations and Extension, capped the activity with a closing remark. According to RTD Marcelino, scaling up CIS is timely for all the displaced and affected farmers in the region and is also a challenge to the local AMIA team to mainstream the interventions to the other commodities and programs.

Lastly, Ms. Julie Ann Barril, Documentation Specialist, shared a message on behalf of UPLBFI. She expressed her gratitude to all the participants of the activity and ensured that the agency will maintain its close coordination with all the stakeholders for the successful implementation of the project.

The UPLBFI Project Team is also composed of Ms. Dorcas Trinidad (Project Management Specialist), Mr. Jonathan Austria (Research Associate), and Ms. Eloisa Grace Mirandilla (Research Assistant). The project will run for one year and will be piloted in the 14 AMIA Villages in the Bicol Region which is envisioned to be scaled up nationwide.

by Eloisa Grace Mirandilla and Jonathan Austria