Philippine Agricultural Economic Restoration

During months July - November 2015, IsraAID has continued its work with CALCOA farmers' association, in Cabintan, Ormoc, Leyte.

July and August were focused on Farmers' preparation work for the arrival of the 19 protective structures donated by IsraAID. The preparation work was a community joint effort of measuring, lay outing and surface levelling of the farmers' association communal plots as well as further improvements to the water supply piping system. The field was in a significant slope, and levelling the surface was a hard physical work, which required much effort, especially the hauling of soil.  For this purpose and in order to make the work a little bit easier on the farmers, a hole digger was donated to the association. During this time period and despite the hard physical work, the farmers had to take on, we have witnessed increased participation of the farmers, due to their excitement of soon receiving the donation and the realization of the potential impact it would have on their lives.

We discovered that the water tanks are positioned in insufficient elevation point from some parts of the field. Together with IsraAID, the farmers decided to connect a small existing electric water pump which allowed the water flow at the tanks to double. This should enable us the necessary flexibility in the daily irrigation which the crops under the structures will require.

In this time of preparation, IsraAID also introduced to the farmers the use of tensiometers, which is a very simple measuring instrument used to determine soil moisture. Together with the farmers, we established a daily monitoring routine which is meant to help them constantly know the state of the crops in field.

By the end of July IsraAID started a more in depth theoretical training program to complement field work and practical experience, to a group of most active farmers.

By the end of August, finally, the long awaited equipment for the construction of the protective structures, has arrived from Israel and so September and October were focused on the installation of the protective structures donated by IsraAID and by EDC, construction of an additional water tower with 3 additional water tanks and initial work on the dam at the water source. Hopefully the dam will improve the water flow and the additional water tanks will improve the pressure in the distribution system, allowing irrigation in areas inaccessible before, which is important especially due to the additional 12 structures donated by EDC.

In parallel to the construction of the structures, the farmers are sowing, in order to save time and start a crop cycle. We expect to harvest tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli and melons by the end of December.

IsraAID is working in collaboration mainly with 3 local entities, The Visayas State University (VSU), the local Agriculture Ministry and Energy Development Corporation (EDC). We are constantly working to strengthen and deepen those partnerships in order to connect the association to other local organizations, ensure the sustainability of the program by encouraging these entities to participate and be accountable as partners and gain greater insight into local needs.

As a part of our partnership with the local Ministry of Agriculture and our aim to share information and encourage local accountability to the program, we invited a representative from the ministry of agriculture to visit the association on a weekly basis and participate in a training program facilitated by our agronomist. Moreover, IsraAID encourages the ministry to join forces together in helping Cabintan to become a demonstration site for other farmer associations.

As a part of our partnership with the Visayas State University, the university is using the program's site to conduct research on integrated crop management and post-harvest practices, crops production under structures and drip irrigation and is mutually sharing expertise with IsraAID's agronomist. This fruitful relationship also allows the association to receive plant protection services and consultancy as well as assistance with developing most suitable marketing strategies.

As a part of our partnership with Energy Development Corporation, as mentioned earlier on, they decided to invest in locally produced (12) protective structures according to IsraAID's offered design, which is largely based on the design of the structures ordered from Israel. This will allow experimenting and examining the quality of these locally produced structures, in the hope to secure the possibility of future expansion of the project, using locally supplied materials. Since bringing more structures to Cabintan means increased demand of water, IsraAID, as mentioned, is also collaborating with EDC in a joint plan to build a dam at the water source and provide 3 additional water tanks to meet the water demand.

Technical Advisory Committee meetings attended by all partners involved in the program in Cabintan, are held monthly, in order to coordinate activities, monitor progress, discuss challenges and think of appropriate solutions. The forum consists of representatives from the local Ministry of Agriculture, Ormoc Chamber of Commerce, EDC, VSU and the farmers' association.

We are excited and thankful for the growing involvement of our partners in the program. We are also very excited to see the dedication of the farmers to learn, improve and join efforts for a better future and we hope to be able to keep providing them the necessary training and the invaluable day to day mentoring for at least 2 more years.