CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Some 1,060 farmers in this province have benefited from the program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that helps communities deal with the impacts of climate change.
Under the DSWD’s Risk Resiliency Program-Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Disaster Risk Reduction (RRP-CCAM DRR), the beneficiaries were given temporary employment through the cash-for-work scheme.
Venus Rebuldela, DSWD Assistant Regional Director for Operations, said on Tuesday that the RRP-CCAM DRR program focuses on empowering communities to become disaster-resilient by combating the effects of climate change.
She said the short-term income-generating interventions, through the program, have opened opportunities for the farmers to be more resilient to the adverse effects of disasters and climate change through planting trees, mangrove reforestation, and communal gardening.
“Hindi lamang ito isang programa na naglalayon na mabigyan ng pansamantalang trabaho o pagkakakitaan ang mga pamilya sa mga vulnerable na lugar, bagkus, ang mga programa at proyektong ito ay nagtuturo at nagsasanay kung paano makapaghahanda at makaiiwas ang mga komunidad sa sakuna na dulot ng pagbabago ng klima (It is not just a program aimed at providing temporary employment or source of livelihood by the families in vulnerable areas, but also, these programs and projects teach and train how communities can prepare and avoid disaster caused by climate change),” she said in a social media post.
In partnership with the provincial government of Pampanga, the beneficiaries from the municipalities of Arayat, Mexico, Sto. Tomas and the City of San Fernando were given PHP4,200 each in compensation for their 10-day work. (PNA)