PCAF participates in campaign against VAW, advocates gender equality

The Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) participated in the 2014 Walk Against Violence Against Women (VAW) at the Quezon City Memorial Circle last November 25, 2014. Organized by the Philippine Commission on Women, the undertaking marks the beginning of the annual observance of the 18-Day Campaign to End VAW, which will end on December 12. Themed “End VAW Now! It’s Our Duty!” it aims to echo a united voice in ending Violence Against Women and Children. Committed to promote gender equality, the PCAF, through the Provincial Agriculture and Fishery Councils, has recently encouraged the Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan, an organization of the rural women, to join the council in its feat for agri-fishery development. This is aside from the representation maintained by women and women’s organizations in the National Sectoral Committees.

Observance of the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against VAW 2014

The Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), together with its consultative bodies, the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAF Council), National Sectoral Committees (NSCs) and Agricultural and Fishery Councils (AFCs), joins the entire nation in the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW) 2014, spearheaded by the Philippine Commission on Women. #endVAWph

NAF Council Budget Committee tackles status of 2014 DA Plan and Budget

In the 6th consultative meeting of the National Agriculture and Fisheries (NAF Council) Budget Committee held at the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) Apacible Conference Room in Quezon City on November 11, committee members and partners tackled the status of the implementation of the DA’s 2014 Plan and Budget.

Around 40 officials were in attendance including representatives from concerned Department of Agriculture (DA) bureaus, attached agencies and corporations, and banner programs.

Elsie Balagtas of the DA Budget Division and Carlos Magnaye, Officer-in-Charge of the DA Planning Service, respectively presented the financial and physical accomplishments of the Department for the past three quarters of the year. 

The DA’s Budget Accountability Report on its operations covered the seven Major Final Outputs, namely, Agriculture and Fishery Policy Services, Technical and Support Services, Irrigation Network Services, Farm-to-Market Road Network Services, Agricultural and Fishery Equipment and Facilities Support Services, Plant and Animal Regulatory Services, and Credit Support Services, where the DA has achieved 57% of its three-quarter targets.

Committee members representing private sector entities and civil society organizations voiced some recommendations to improve the planning and monitoring processes of the DA budget which include the presentation of budget proposals and status of implementation of the different programs to the National Sectoral Committees (NSCs), for the Budget Committee to discuss every quarter the status of implementation of the entire DA plan and budget, and conduct initial consultations with private sectors at the local levels to find out the pressing issues that need to be considered in the budgeting process.

In the two resolutions passed during the meeting, the committee underscored the participation of the private sector in the early stages of the budget planning for 2016 and beyond and for the engagement of the Department of Budget and Management in the DA budget consultations.

Stressing that the results of monitoring efforts can be a sound basis for improving the DA’s budget, NSC Chairpersons, who are also members of the committee, reiterated their willingness to serve as third party monitoring body for the DA’s programs and projects.

PCAF officials led by Exec. Dir. Ariel Cayanan disclosed that the PCAF, which serves as the secretariat for the NAF Council, its Budget Committee, NSCs and AFCs, has allotted an additional budget of around P300,000 for each region every quarter for the NSCs to monitor and track agri-fishery programs and projects in 2015, focusing on big-ticket items.

In line with this, the committee agreed to meet again to discuss monitoring guidelines, budgetary concerns and other matters related to the NSCs’ monitoring of the DA’s 2015 budget implementation.

AKBay II implementers identify implementation strategies for FFHs beneficiaries

The Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) and the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 8 (DA-RFO 8), conducted the Implementers’ Meeting and Planning Workshop on AKBay: Agrikultura – Kaagapay ng Bayang Pinoy Program Phase II for Typhoon Yolanda Affected Areas at the Visayas State University Garden Resort, Baybay City, Leyte last September 17-19, 2014. Attended by 77 participants from the PCAF, DA-RFO 8, and representatives from the Agricultural and Fishery Councils, and local government units, the undertaking aimed to identify problems and issues affecting the implementation of the program and provide solutions to those challenges, finalize the capability-building plan for the farming and fishing household (FFH) beneficiaries and the schedule of trainings at the municipal level, and come-up with a calendar of activities for the distribution of inputs at the provincial and municipal levels. The said program is funded under the Japanese Grant Assistance for the Food Security Project for Underprivileged Farmers (2KR Program).

Agri-fishery stakeholders learn climate proofing methods

Agriculture and fisheries stakeholders were trained on climate proofing methodologies during the Training-Workshop on Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) into Policies, Plans and Investments at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in Los Baños, Laguna last October 7-10.

Representatives from the Agriculture and Fishery Council (AFC) and National Sectoral Committee (NSC), Department of Agriculture, local government units, academe and farmers’ regional network learned how to incorporate CCA into their programs and projects.

In his message, SEARCA Director Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr. noted how climate change threatens our food security as it negatively affects the agriculture and fisheries sector and that the best option to face the challenges of climate change is to adapt and heighten the resiliency of the agriculture and fisheries sector.

It is in this context and along with its mandate of building capacities toward inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development that the SEARCA conducted the training-workshop to equip the participants with knowledge and skills in integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation actions into their development initiatives, he emphasized.

During the workshop, the participants were made to apply the systemic adaptation assessment or climate proofing methodology on selected real cases that they submitted prior to the training-workshop.

Their outputs were presented into an “information marketplace,” a method that is based on the idea of a real market where there is buying and selling and the venue is used for stimulating the exchange of information among many people simultaneously within a limited time.

UPLB College of Arts and Sciences Dean Felino Lansigan spoke on the introduction to climate change and climate change adaptation concepts, while UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources Prof. Canesio Predo discussed the use of economic tools in assessing adaptation options.

Meanwhile, Dr. Daylinda Cabanilla of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños and SEARCA Program Specialist Rosario Bantayan served as the training workshop’s Technical Coordinator and Co-Coordinator,respectively.

Among the participants during the activity were AFC representatives Stephen Santillan (Region 6), Floro Dalapag (Region 10), Dante Tobias (Region 2), and Guillermo Argosino (Region 4-A), and NSC representatives Arsenio Tanchuling (Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture), Emman Sibayan (National Confederation of Farmers and Fishers Organizations), Antonio Rola (Committee on Fruits and Vegetables), Alfredo Pedrosa III (Committee on Climate Change), Leonora Lava (Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement), and Emilio Neri (National Federation of Hog Farmers).

The Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries endorsed the 10 trainees to increase their understanding on the application of climate proofing methodologies within their respective organizational environment to ensure that climate change concerns are integrated in their agenda.

In addition, their attendance to the training workshop also aimed to enhance their capabilities in the monitoring and evaluation of various DA and NAFC-assisted climate change adaptation programs and projects, and provide feedbacks and inputs on their implementation.

-With reports from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture


source: http://nafc.da.gov.ph/NAFCNEWs/2014/agri-fishery.html