A total of fifty (50) barangays from Eastern Visayas, currently covered by Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Kalahi-CIDSS program, qualified for the additional grant for Livelihood and Enterprise (L&E) amounting to PhP 47,000,000.00 under the NCDDP (National Community-Driven Development Program) Livelihood and Enterprise Project.
Said grant is through the partnersihp of DSWD and Asian Development Bank to implement additional financing to restore the lives of Typhoon Yolanda victims across the country.
Although Kalahi-CIDSS has already accomplished 5, 309 sub-projects in the region as of October 19, 2017, more communities are still proposing to engage in livelihood–related projects.
A large percentage of these Kalahi-CIDSS completed sub-projects are geared towards post-typhoon rehabilitation of community infrastructure, delivery of basic social services, and environmental protection and disaster mitigation. However, these do not directly answer their call for direct income generation.
Kalahi-CIDSS also partnered with DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), and various government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), among others. These entities have advanced experience on L&E that aim to economically empower the poor, the disadvantaged and marginalized.
All 50 barangays, from 33 municipalities in Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Leyte and Biliran province, passed the ranking and project proposal prioritization during the Regional Inter-municipal Forum (RIMF) held in September 2017 in Tacloban City.
All project proposals were reviewed and validated prior to its approval, based on the the following criteria: vulnerability of the proponent; existing association, operation and maintenance (O & M) group; marketability and availability of materials; acquired technical capability of proponent, active LGU and other agencies giving technical assistance and can generate employment outside organization or association.
Moreover, the Production of Coco-based Products proposed project of Brgy. Look, Anahawan, Southern Leyte ranked first during the prioritization with a total grant of more than 1 million pesos. Most of the proposed L & E sub-projects were on food production, skills training, hog raising, mushroom and flower plantation, and acquisition of equipment and facilities for increased food production. (R. Maray-Lim/SMU)
