In September, FiBL kicked off a new project in Cotabato, the Philippines. The project "Going Bananas: Restoring Livelihoods of Conflict Affected Farmers in Cotabato" is a joint initiative set-up in a public-private-partnership supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) through its SDG Partnership Facility (SDGP). The project aims to contribute to peace and sustainable economic development by restoring agriculture-based livelihoods for over 12,000 farmer households in Carmen, North Cotabato.
Introducing climate-resilient and organic farming practices, capacity development at local level, providing incentives in the form of suitable seedlings, improving market conditions and landscape interventions will enable the smallholder farmers to become more productive. This way, the incomes of at least 2,000 farmers are raised and the nutritional value and food security for their families are increase.
The intervention takes place on three levels:
- farm level towards climate resilient production of organic produce,
- market access by improved infrastructure (processing plant and access roads) and
- at the landscape level where climate smart technologies for water-harvesting will reduce the impact of climate change.
Scaling of the project is set to take place through private sector development in combination with ongoing government programmes in Carmen and across Mindanao. Main partners in this project are Treelife, Aidenvironment, the municipality of Carmen, and the University of Southern Mindanao.
The kick-off meeting was hosted by the municipality of Carmen, where enthusiastic stakeholders from various villages and all project partners expressed their commitment to the project objectives. FiBL's role in this project is primarily focussed on the participatory development of locally adapted organic farming practices and local capacity development.
Further information
Contact
Gurbir Bhullar
Link
- rvo.nl: The SDG partnership facility