The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has allocated at least P1.4 billion for projects intended to mitigate the effects of El Niño this year.

DSWD Special Assistant to the Secretary (SAS) for Special Projects Maria Isabel Lanada said in a forum on Thursday, Feb. 29 that the allocated budget will be used to fund the department’s initiatives—the Local Adaptation to Water Access (Project Lawa) and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (Project BINHI).

Projects LAWA at BINHI are proactive interventions and sustainable solutions to combat hunger, alleviate poverty, and reduce community economic vulnerability by addressing food insecurity and water scarcity, which are exacerbated by climate change and natural disasters.

“’Yong Project LAWA ay nagkaroon na tayo ng pilot implementation last year. Ito ay ginawa sa Davao de Oro sa Mindanao, Ifugao sa Luzon, at Antique sa Visayas. Ito ay angkop na pamamaraan o teknolohiya upang magkaroon ng water availability sa mga communities (For project LAWA we already had pilot implementation last year. This was done in Davao de Oro for Mindanao, Ifugao for Luzon, and Antique for Visayas. This is an appropriate technology to have water availability in communities),” Lanada said.

She explained that during the pilot testing, it was found out that people require not only water but also nutritious food to ensure their survival and productivity.

“Dito sa pilot testing, nakita natin na hindi lamang tubig ang kailangan ng tao. Kailangan din nila ng pagkain. Ang mandato ng DSWD ay poverty alleviation, hunger mitigation. Focused kami sa food security kaya nabuo ang Project Binhi (During the pilot testing, we noted that people do not only need water but also food. With the mandate of DSWD being on poverty alleviation and hunger mitigation, we also focused on food security. This is how the Project BINHI came about),” she said.

Temporary employment in public projects

Lanada said this year’s full implementation will focus on Projects LAWA and BINHI.

The projects will offer learning and development sessions on climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction, and cash-for-work and cash-for-training to beneficiaries in priority areas affected by El Niño.

“The target beneficiaries include families of farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, and other climate and disaster-vulnerable families,” she said.

Each beneficiary will have the opportunity to participate in cash-for-work and cash-for-training activities for 10 to 25 days, with a daily wage based on the project area’s current Regional Daily Minimum Wage Rate range.

The beneficiaries will participate in water efficiency projects, such as the construction of small farm reservoirs, repairs and rehabilitation of water harvesting facilities, repairs of multipurpose water infrastructures, diversification of water supplies, aquaculture, and hydroponics, among others.

Beneficiaries will also take part in activities, such as communal vegetable gardening, urban gardening, school-based and community-based vegetable gardening, community-based diversified integrated farming, disaster-resilient crop planting, fruit-bearing tree and mangrove planting, and vermicomposting to improve their food security.

In 2024, Projects LAWA and BINHI will be implemented in 294 cities and municipalities across 58 provinces and 16 regions.

Ten small farm reservoirs will be built in each participating city and municipality, for a total of 2,940.