Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe through Leyte Center for Development distributes vegetable seeds in Carigara (March 13)

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe through Leyte Center for Development distributes vegetable seeds in Carigara

BARANGAY CANLAMPAY, CARIGARA – On March 13, 2014, Thursday, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) along with Leyte Center for Development inc. (LCDE) and Citizens Disaster Response Center (CDRC) staff conducted vegetable seed distributions in Barangay Canlampay in Carigara, Leyte as part of their early recovery assistance programs for affected communities in Eastern Visayas by Typhoon Haiyan, where 298 households were served.

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe is a German aid organization which is part of ACT (Action by Churches Together), a global alliance of churches and relief agencies in the area of humanitarian aid whereas LCDE and its national partner CDRC are both disaster response and risk management institutions which belong to a countrywide network of similar organizations. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe is working closely with both LCDE and CDRC in the implementation of its projects and services in Eastern Visayas.

Lack of Alternate Livelihoods

Residents of Barangay Canlampay, suffered major damage to their crops from the storm; effectively crippling their primary source of livelihood, their situation mirrors that of the many communities in the region at the present. With very limited opportunities for other alternative means of income, planting and cultivating vegetables is a low cost and effective way for people to support themselves while on their road to recovery, whether it be finding another livelihood or restoring their old one.

According LCDE and CDRC project officers barely only ¼ of the total residents in Barangay Canlampay have begun planting rice, and as farming is their principal livelihood many people are now left with no other ways of making a living. To make matters worse much of the residents are tenants who are already deep in debt, without a proper harvest, paying these off will be near impossible. 

Vegetable Seeds

Pedro Olidan a 74 year old farmer and resident of Barangay Canlampay said “With my crops destroyed, and with nothing else to turn too, I am forced to ask help from my children who have work, as farming is the only work I know”. When asked about his thoughts on DKH’s vegetable seed distribution, Pedro was ecstatic and grateful as planting vegetables will give him a measure of self-sufficiency and help him save money from the ever increasing prices of vegetables in the market. He plans to plant the seeds given to him in a plot behind his house.

His story is comparable to many of the residents of Barangay Canlampay, where they consider planting vegetables a viable means of livelihood assistance and a great deal of help in their efforts to rebuild their community. The people of Canlampay are thankful for the vegetable seeds as Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe is the first organization to provide this kind of livelihood aid in their area since Typhoon Haiyan hit Leyte.

By: Carlo A. Jerusalem

      LCDE Advocacy Officer