A total of 71 barangays in 25 municipalities in the Caraga Region have benefited from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Projects LAWA (Local Adaptation to Water Access) and BINHI (Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished), an agency official said on Tuesday (August 27).
“Through our Field Office Caraga, our partner-beneficiaries have constructed 81 water impounding facilities under Project LAWA and 109 food security initiatives under BINHI in the identified municipalities in the region,” said DSWD Asst. Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao, who is also the agency spokesperson.
According to the DSWD spokesperson, the 25 municipalities were assessed as among the most affected by the El Niño based on the Climate Outlook of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (DOST-PAGASA).
The identified municipalities also have the highest number of poor families as per the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan 3 database.
“Our partner-beneficiaries for Project LAWA focused on constructing and rehabilitating small farm reservoirs, setting up water harvesting facilities, developing multi-purpose water infrastructures, and diversifying water sources,” the DRMG official said.
The LAWA projects are expected to provide a total water capacity ranging from 81,000 to 121,500 cubic meters and will potentially sustain around 162 to 243 hectares of agricultural land in the Caraga Region.
Under Project BINHI, Asst. Secretary Dumlao said the community established school and community vegetable gardens, implemented integrated farming, and planted disaster-resilient crops, among others.
Asst. Secretary Dumlao said the BINHI projects utilized around 1,832 hectares, producing an estimated 18,320 to 36,640 tons of food.
“These food supplies can support between 22,900 and 91,600 individuals, or roughly 4,580 to 18,320 families,” the DSWD spokesperson pointed out.
Projects LAWA and BINHI are designed to maintain agricultural productivity during dry periods and to manage excess water during periods of heavy rainfall associated with La Niña.
The two projects are among the innovations in the DSWD under the leadership of Secretary Rex Gatchalian that focus on mitigating the impacts of food insecurity and water scarcity caused by El Niño while preparing for the potential effects of the rainy season.
Projects LAWA and BINHI were special mentions by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr in his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 22, prompting the DSWD chief to say that “the small idea has become a SONA program.” #