Coffee, sugarcane farmers gain tools against climate risks

Participants in the climate change vulnerability assessment training take part in a workshop designed to strengthen decision-making and sustainable adaptation planning. (Jan M. Regulacion, ARMRD, DOST-PCAARRD)

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Coffee and sugarcane farmers could gain better protection from crop losses, pest outbreaks, drought, flooding, and shifting rainfall patterns as agricultural practitioners learn how to assess climate risks and turn the findings into farm-level adaptation strategies.

The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, or DOST-PCAARRD, conducted a training-workshop on Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, or CCVA, to help researchers, agriculturists, and development workers identify threats facing farmers and recommend practical responses.

The initiative is aimed at helping farming communities prepare for intensifying typhoons, prolonged droughts, frequent floods, changing rainfall patterns, and other climate pressures that threaten yields and household incomes.

For coffee and sugarcane growers, improved climate-risk assessment could help guide decisions on irrigation, crop management, farm diversification, and other measures intended to reduce losses and sustain livelihoods.

The training was organized through DOST-PCAARRD’s Agricultural Resources Management Research Division at the council’s headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna.

It brought together 26 coffee and sugarcane stakeholders from 12 institutions across the country for the first training of its kind involving the two commodities.

Participants included researchers, municipal agriculturists, and development practitioners who work directly or indirectly with farming communities.

Through lectures and hands-on workshops, participants learned to assess vulnerabilities affecting not only crop production but also farmers’ socioeconomic conditions.

They used the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s Climate Information Map, or CliMap, to examine climate projections.

Participants also used GeoRiskPH’s HazardHunterPH to map hazards and assess biophysical and socioeconomic risks in their respective areas.

The exercises helped participants identify threats ranging from pest outbreaks and crop losses to farmers’ limited access to resources.

They then translated their findings into possible adaptation strategies, including agroforestry, improved irrigation, and diversified livelihoods.

DOST-PCAARRD said these measures are intended as practical interventions that can be applied at the farm level.

The workshop also emphasized participatory and data-driven decision-making so that farmers can help shape climate adaptation measures instead of serving only as beneficiaries.

Participants exchanged ideas, explored potential research partnerships, and discussed ways to integrate CCVA into their respective programs and institutions.

Many also expressed plans to use the assessment tools in project planning, proposal development, policy integration, and agricultural extension work.

Yusuf A. Sucol, chair of the University of the Philippines Los Baños Climate Change and Disaster Risks Studies Center under the School of Environmental Science and Management, proposed expanding and institutionalizing the initiative.

Sucol said a broader framework could cover priority crops, livestock, fisheries, and ecosystems under DOST-PCAARRD’s agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources research and development programs.

He also proposed developing an “Assessment for Adaptation,” or A4A, Toolkit as a comprehensive adaptation resource that would complement existing tools and frameworks.

Sucol encouraged participating institutions to serve as pilot sites for the further development and testing of the proposed tools.

With representatives from several provinces and agencies already involved, he said the group is well-positioned to move forward without starting from scratch.

Sucol reiterated that failing to prepare and plan is equivalent to planning to fail and stressed that CCVA and the proposed A4A initiatives are urgent and necessary.

He added that stronger partnerships and shared commitment are key to achieving resilience and sustainability goals.

DOST-PCAARRD said the training reflects the growing need to equip farmers and the institutions supporting them with better information as climate uncertainty increasingly affects agricultural production.

By improving access to climate data, risk-assessment tools, and farm-level adaptation options, the initiative is intended to help coffee and sugarcane communities protect productivity, incomes, and long-term livelihoods.