DA-6 shares updates on climate resiliency initiatives

In keeping with the ONE DA mission through inter-agency collaboration, experts from the Department of Agriculture (DA) Western Visayas Local Operations Management Section’s (LOMS) Climate Information System (CIS) shared data and knowledge on climate adaptation and mitigation during the Information Officers’ First Quarterly Meeting and Seminar on March 2-3, 2021 at Damires Hills, Janiuay, Iloilo.

Engr. Jackson Demamay, Science Research Specialist and CIS expert, said the program identified and prioritized distinctive climate risks which threaten the resiliency of agri-fishery communities in the region.

DA WV Information Officers are recognized as one of the important key players in the identification of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of agri-fishery groups.

They are also vital to the implementation of processes and tools in creating plans and designs for climate risk responsive development interventions to build resilient agri-fishery communities.

“This tool encourages farmers to select crops that are climatic suitable and make them able to choose products that are climate change adaptive,” Engr. Demamay said.

Chrystal Jane Alemandrejo, LOMS Information Officer, showed the Seasonal Climate Outlook and Advisory (SCOA) which features the six-month period climate viewpoint, climate outlook summary, weather system (tropical cyclone, dry/wet day per province), and forecast of rainfall per province.

Several information, education, and communication initiatives such as radio segments, fora, press releases, and community seminars are now highlighting the Adaption and Mitigation Initiatives in Agriculture – Climate Resilient Agriculture and Technology-based Enterprise (AMIA-CREATE) in various provinces.

Researches on crop climate adaptation are sustainably done in some areas such as Malinao and Batan in Aklan; Hamtic, Belision, Laua-an, and Libertad in Antique; Jamindan, Dao, Pres. Roxas, Ivisan in Capiz; Sibunag and San Lorenzo in Guimaras; and Banate in Iloilo.

The intensified information dissemination of CIS is in line with the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation measures as one of the 12 strategies of DA Secretary William D. Dar to propel growth in agriculture sector in 2021 and beyond.

AMIA-CREATE is a flagship program of DA-LOMS.

This program is created to assess the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of the agri-fisheries sector to climate risks in the AMIA target provinces. (Ma. Corazon Buala/DA-RAFIS 6)