Increasing resilience and food security with early action

Early action is a powerful tool to enhance community resilience and reduce the risk of food insecurity. When appropriately resourced and managed, early action saves lives and protects livelihoods.

As the Philippines observes National Disaster Resilience Month this July, we have the indispensable opportunity and moral obligation to speak up for the 33 percent of Filipinos who remain food insecure (2021 National Nutrition Survey).

For two consecutive years, the Philippines has had the highest disaster risk worldwide due to its exposure and susceptibility to climate-related and other hazards. In 2023 alone, conflict and natural hazards affected more than 13.7 million people in the Philippines (OCHA). The start of a strong El Niño brought below-normal rainfall conditions which persisted until May 2024.

At the same time, the Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. In April 2024, Zambales recorded a heat index of 53 degrees Celsius (PAGASA). The onset of La Niña is expected to bring above-average rains and strong typhoons throughout the ongoing monsoon season.

Based on future modelling, both droughts and floods are more likely to occur. Unless we anticipate associated risks, hazards will continue to negatively impact the economy.

The time to save livelihoods is now

Over the past decade, the Philippines has made significant progress in reducing the number of disaster-related casualties. Comprehensive evacuation procedures and regular exercises have reduced the number of deaths from 6,300 in Typhoon Yolanda (2013) to 1,300 in Typhoon Odette (2021).

At the same time, the billions of pesos of economic losses from Odette amounted to roughly 1.45 percent of the Philippines’ GDP – 0.45 percent higher than from Yolanda, further exacerbating the situation of already food-insecure Filipinos.

For the Philippines, it is high time to shift gears and go beyond saving lives. It is crucial to protect livelihoods and enable communities to meet their own food and nutrition needs, lowering the risk of looming food insecurity in times of disaster.

A recent WFP study analyzed the interconnectedness of climate hazards and food security in the Philippines, particularly the risks and opportunities it presents to livelihoods in rural and urban areas. With the increasing intensity and frequency of climate hazards, specific investments in disaster preparedness and risk reduction are increasingly critical.

When PAGASA issued the El Niño alert in 2023, WFP and DSWD conceptualized a simple solution to act early and ensure water sufficiency and food security during prolonged dry spells. Project LAWA – or Local Adaptation to Water Access – is a 15-day Cash for Training and Work activity providing temporary employment to indigenous peoples, farmers and fisherfolk families.

For its second phase, the water reservoirs built create livelihood activities, such as disaster-resilient and sustainable vegetable gardening, vermicomposting, fish farming or animal feeding.

Between the pilot implementation in 2023 and the scale-up in 2024, the government’s investment grew from P30 million ($545,000) to P2.4 billion ($43.6 million). The number of participants increased from 4,900 people and nine local government units (LGUs) to over 1.25 million people in over 400 LGUs.

Using available funds from DSWD’s Risk Resiliency Program for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation-Disaster Risk Reduction (RRP-CCAM-DRR), as well as Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), Project LAWA has grown from a simple, early action to become a comprehensive climate change and resilience initiative for those most vulnerable to climate shocks.

Leading the conversation

In November this year, the Philippines will host the regional Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. At the conference, representatives from across the region will discuss how the public and private sectors could contribute to accelerating disaster risk reduction.

The Philippines has much to share on how to enhance community resilience and reduce disaster risk. Early actions, like Project LAWA, are a contemporary reminder of the country’s growing ambition to prepare for and anticipate, rather than to react, to disasters.

At the same time, more can be done. Over the past two years, WFP has worked with the government on crafting a bill to adopt anticipatory action into the Philippines’ Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Framework. The government’s declaration of a State of Imminent Disaster would allow agencies to access funds and act before a hazard strikes.

As disaster events grow in frequency and resources become more stringent, this bill will be a game changer in the government’s ability to save lives and protect livelihoods. Investing in preparedness has the potential to save as much as 50 percent from the cost of humanitarian response (WFP, UNICEF).

Towards early action to reduce disaster risk

Each year brings more unpredictable and frequent disasters. The time for communities to recover in between multiple disasters is distressingly short. While natural hazards are inevitable, the cost of disasters can be reduced, lives can be saved and community assets and livelihoods can be protected.

Learning from past disaster events such as Yolanda and Odette, the Philippines faces the unique opportunity to innovate legislation and policies that enable disaster managers and communities to act early and reduce the loss of lives and livelihoods. Combined with the availability of new early warning technology, early and anticipatory action can enhance community resilience and reduce the risk of food insecurity.

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Hannes Goegele is the WFP Philippines Emergency Coordinator.