Philippines Climate Risk Profiles Luzon

Luzon Philippines Climate Risk Profiles Highlights • Luzon contributes half of the total agricultural integrated crop and livestock farming, and production in the Philippines, producing 44% of organic farming, among other techniques. the crops, 57% of the livestock, 66% of the poultry, and 52% of the fish for the entire country. While • To promote climate-resilient agriculture, the Central Luzon remains the rice granary of the government, through its regional offices Philippines, the Cordillera Administrative Region and institutional partnerships, has actively (CAR) is the key source of cabbages, potatoes, supported the development and dissemination and other highland vegetables. of new crop varieties, of Alternative Wetting and Drying (AWD) technology, and of the Rice • Tropical cyclones (typhoons) and droughts Crop Manager (RCM) tool. In addition, climate are the key climate-related hazards affecting information service systems, farmer field schools Luzon. Heavy rains and floods associated with (FFS), and radio programs have been set up to strong typhoons disrupt the activities of most increase farmers’ capacity to respond to climate lowland rice farmers, while highland vegetable risks. and upland corn growers are vulnerable to soil erosion, landslides, and strong winds. Droughts • Across agricultural value chains, actors remain have detrimental effects on upland corn and confronted with a series of barriers that prevent rain-fed production. uptake of climate-smart practices, such as low awareness of adaptation opportunities and • Low productivity associated with floods and/or limited technical skills to implement them, low droughts occurring during the crops’ vegetative financial capacity to make long-term investments stages results in significantly lower farm incomes in technology and equipment, limited access and reduced capacity to invest in household and to insurance schemes, and unfavorable market farm resilience building. prices. • Common adaptation practices adopted by • Partnerships between private, research, and non- farmers in Luzon include maintaining existing governmental agriculture stakeholders can help drainage canals; re-adjusting the cropping enhance the effectiveness of public efforts to calendar, for instance to enable delayed planting; increase the resilience of the sector; leveraging using rain-water harvesting tanks and/or water funds and knowledge from different sources pumps; building crop shelters like greenhouses would help address financing gaps and scale to protect crops from strong winds and heavy out successful interventions, thus enlarging the rains; and using traditional pest control methods, pool of beneficiaries. Foreword The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable These areas are key producers of the selected crops countries to climate change [1], with climate impacts and are highly vulnerable to typhoons and drought. disproportionately affecting agricultural and rural communities. Low productivity, underinvestment, The profile is organized into six sections, each and extreme weather events mean farmers in the reflecting an essential analytical step in understanding Philippines are some of the poorest people in the current and potential adaptation options in key local country, the majority of whom manage small farms agricultural value chain commodities. The document of less than 1 hectare (ha). The agricultural sector first offers an overview of agricultural commodities employs some 32% of the Philippines’ working that are crucial for food security and livelihoods in population and occupies almost 41% of the country’s the Philippines, and describes major challenges to land area. Comprised of over 7,600 islands—with agricultural sector development in the island group. 11 providing the bulk of the country’s landmass— Next, it identifies the main climatic hazards based the Philippines faces severe challenges in meeting on analysis of historical climate data and climate domestic food demands and relies heavily on projections including typhoons and drought. The imports, especially for wheat and rice. profile continues with an analysis of vulnerabilities and risks posed by the hazards toward key commodities The Philippines is affected by a range of extreme through crop suitability mapping. Based on these weather events, particularly tropical cyclones (or vulnerabilities, we discuss current and potential on- “typhoons”) [2]. In this humid, tropical environment, farm adaptation options and off-farm services. The climate change is expected to produce even higher text also provides snapshots of the enabling policy, temperatures and increasingly unpredictable institutional, and governance context for adoption rainfall by 2050, negatively affecting yields for of resilience-building strategies. Finally, pathways most crops. In this same period, it is estimated that for strengthening institutional capacity to address climate change impacts of all kinds could cost the climate risks are presented. Philippines’ economy over USD 2.7 billion a year [3]. These climate impacts will be exacerbated by rapid population growth, ongoing conflict, and severe land degradation. Still, the government of the Philippines has taken policy and institutional steps to combat the impacts of climate change and adapt Agricultural context the country’s agricultural sector to likely impacts. Luzon is the economic and political center of the Given the agricultural sector’s importance for poverty Philippines, located in the northern region of the reduction and economic growth in the Philippines, archipelago and bounded by the Philippine Sea to it is important to understand the impacts of climate the east, Sibuyan Sea to the South, and South China change and extreme weather events across the Sea to the west. It is the largest among the three island entire agricultural value chain. To achieve this, three groups in the Philippines and is comprised of eight profiles have been created, one for each major island regions, namely: The National Capital Region (NCR), group in the Philippines (Mindanao, Luzon, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Visayas), examining the relationship between climate (Region I), Cagayan Valley (Region II), Central Luzon hazards, key commodities, and their value chains. In (Region III), CALABARZON (Region IVA), MIMAROPA Luzon, four major value chain commodities were (Region IV-B), and Bicol (Region V). selected: rice, yellow corn, cabbages, and potatoes. For each of these commodities, a study area was selected through a consultative process supported Economic relevance of farming by relevant literature and expert consultations. The study area is located in the Cordillera Administrative Agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing activities Region. The profiles cover rice and corn in Abra, on the island group contributed 16% of the Gross Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, and Apayao, and Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) and 51% of cabbage and potatoes in the province of Benguet. the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2017. 2 Luzon 3 Luzon contributed the most to the country’s 2017 Among the three island groups, Luzon has recorded gross GVA, followed by Mindanao and Visayas [4]. the lowest rates of undernourishment over the past Agriculture employs more than 4.3 million people, years. Incidence of underweight children aged 10 equivalent to 7% of the island’s population [5]. and below was 21% in 2015, while the youth stunting Roughly 18% of the men and 5% of its women are rate for individuals aged 19 and younger was 32%, employed as skilled workers in agriculture, forestry, about 6-8% lower than the other island groups. The and fishing activities [6]. Men usually engage in overweight population reached 4%. Literacy rates agricultural operations, while women mostly help vary across age groups. In 2018, 97% of people aged with on-farm activities or work on neighboring 10 years or older were literate [10]. farms [7]. 2.1 million children (aged 5-17 years) are engaged in the labour market in the Philippines, equivalent to 8% of the age group. The majority Agricultural activities (62%) of child labourers work in the agriculture sector as part of the family unit, which is of concern Farms in Luzon occupy roughly 3.6 million hectares as agriculture is one of the three most dangerous (ha) and employ 4.6 million of the inhabitants employment sectors, along with construction and [9]. Average farm size is below 1 ha [17]. Of all the mining [8]. The average daily income for agricultural island groups in the Philippines, Luzon made the workers is PHP 209 (USD 3.85), with fishing activities highest contribution (51%) to the country’s total being slightly better rewarded (PHP 226; USD 4.17) and sub-sectoral agricultural production in 2017. compared to agriculture, hunting, and forestry Poultry, livestock, fish, and crops accounted for 66%, (PHP 208; USD 3.84) [9]. 57%, 52%, and 44%, of total national production, respectively [4]. People and livelihoods Temporary crops grown on the island include rice, corn, tubers, roots and bulbs, fruit-bearing trees, Luzon hosts roughly 57% (over 57 million) of the sugarcane, tobacco (particularly in Ilocos), legumes population in the Philippines [9]. The rural population (in Cagayan Valley), and vegetables (in CAR), while is concentrated in Calabarzon (accounting for 23% dominant permanent crops include coconuts, of the island’s total rural population), followed by bananas, mangoes, pineapples, abaca, coffee Central Luzon (22%), Bicol (21%), Cagayan Valley robusta,

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