HyDEPP-SATREPS starts the year with Groups 2 & 4 activities
February 1, 2024
The HyDEPP-SATREPS kicked off its project activities in the Philippines in the first month of 2024. Japan members Dr. Tomohiro Tanaka (Group 4 leader), Dr. Tsuyoshi Sumita (Group 2 & 4), Dr. Koki Homma (Group 2 leader), and their respective Master’s and Ph.D. students arrived in the Philippines on January 25th to meet co-project Philippine members and to conduct field surveys in Candaba, Pampanga.
On January 26th at the College of Economics and Management (CEM), University of the Philippines Los Baños, the group had a meeting joined by Dr. Ma. Angeles O. Catelo (Group 4 leader), Asst. Prof. Luisito C. Abueg, Asst. Prof. Veronica I. Castillo (Group 4 members), Ms. Atsuko Himeno (Project Coordinator), Forester Rochelle M. Lantican (Project Assistant), and Mr. Pierre Giuseppe Gilles (CEM Faculty member) to assess questionnaire surveys to be used in Candaba, Pampanga. Dr. Tanaka discussed and consulted each question in terms of relevance and appropriateness for use to interview Candaba farmers. Further, insights were shared by Dr. Catelo and Mr. Abueg, highlighting government support, local and national laws, agricultural insurance, and farmers' decision-making during and after calamities such as floods and droughts.
Dr. Catelo, who leads the HyDEPP-SATREPS Philippines counterpart project which is the basis of the first policy forum presented last 5th JCC, also shared some brief findings as it also assessed the effects of floods and droughts on farmers. This might also be a reference to the Candaba survey the Japanese team will conduct during their stay in the Philippines.
Aside from the questionnaire assessment, the meeting also served as a consultation about the agent-based model (ABM) Ms. Castillo and Mr. Abueg are currently working since the HyDEPP-SATREPS Japan Training last year.
After a short visit to UPLB, the Japanese team met Dr. Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr. (Project Director) and proceeded to Candaba, Pampanga to conduct farmer interviews and field surveys necessary for economic modeling.