Building resiliency of smallholder farmers in upland farming communities in Isabela Province, Philippines

Smallholder upland farmers in the Philippines’ marginal hilly areas, particularly those practising continuous corn monocropping, are among the most vulnerable groups to climate shocks, including typhoons, drought and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Sound science-based response strategies and measures, such as agroforestry systems, are imperative to build the resilience of vulnerable smallholder upland farming communities. Agroforestry is a dynamic and ecologically based natural resources management system that integrates trees on farms into the agricultural landscape. It diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all levels. Resiliency levels of three selected upland farming communities in Isabela, Cabagan, San Pablo and Tumauini were determined by measuring the capitals of sustainable livelihood: social, human, financial, physical and natural. Data was gathered using a household survey, focus group discussions and characterisation of farm production areas. Results showed a generally low level of resiliency of the three farming communities, ranging from 0.1569 to 0.2257, with Cabagan having the lowest accumulation of physical capital of 0.0206 and human capital of 0.0346. In contrast, San Pablo had social capital of 0.0051 and natural capital of 0.1059. Tumauini had the highest financial capital of 0.5333 but had a low social capital score of 0.0185. The findings suggest that enhancing the resiliency of these upland farming communities calls for a comprehensive approach that will enhance farmers’ production systems through appropriate agroforestry system design and establishment for economic and ecological benefits, and consequently build their resiliency.