Group 2 comes back to visit Pampanga target sites
January 23, 2022
The representatives from Group 2: Flood and Drought Risk Assessment of the HyDEPP-SATREPS project revisited the sites in Candaba Pampanga last January 16-20, 2023 for a more detailed interview and survey on the current situation of the area with regards to Agriculture. Just as the previous visits, the team was accommodated and assisted by the Candaba Municipal Agriculture Office lead by Municipal Agriculturist Jomar Guevarra.
Japan side members Dr. Homma Koki (Group 2 Leader) and Dr. Sumita Tsuyoshi (Group 2) spearheaded the activities, each of them with different objectives on the areas. The team was divided into two for this purpose. Dr. Homma's team were also joined by Dr. Aida Kentaro (Group Member) and Engr. Vicente Ballaran, Jr (former Group 2 Leader from Philippine side) both from the International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) as well as one of his graduate students. Their activities focused mainly on flying the newly purchased Agricultural Monitoring drone on selected areas of Candaba. They verified details such as vegetation, elevation, etc compared to satellite data available. They also interviewed residents nearby regarding their experiences during typhoons and floods whenever possible.
Dr. Sumita's team on the other hand was joined by Ms. Makiko Ohashi (Project Coordinator) from JICA Philippines and Mr. Julius Angelo Galang (Project Assistant) from JICA/UP Los Banos. They were accompanied and endorsed by Barangay Representatives to selected farmers and/or farm owners in selected barangays in Candaba. Dr. Sumita prepared a detailed questionnaire regarding the farmers' owned lands ad farming machineries, types of crops being farmed, previous revenue generated as well as the cost of living in their households. A separate questionnaire was also used to determine the cost of inputs during each cropping season (e.g. seeds, fertilizers, manpower, etc).
The team managed to interview three individual farmers per barangay. Interviewees were either managing their owned farm or working as laborer for a farm owned by a different person. Each lasted for about 2-3 hours and then followed by a quick visit to the lands they are farming.
Total lands owned by each farm owners ranged from 2ha up to 200ha which also affects the farming operation costs. Household sizes also vary from regular families of 3-5 members up to extended families with 11 members which also translates to varying household expenses. Problems caused by typhoons (e.g. flooded and damaged crops and droughts (e.g. lack of water supply), however are experienced by all and are considered the main cause of losses in harvest and ultimately, in profits.
Upon consolidation of the gathered data, the researchers expect to have a better grasp on the situation of Candaba in terms of livelihood and agriculture, how intensely they are hit by floods and droughts and how easily they recover from its effects. This will in turn determine the kinds of interventions needed to support them.