Sustaining and growing landcare systems in the Philippines and Australia

Because of a major delay in operational commencement of the project caused by contract approval problems, the progress report covers effectively only a six-month period for the Philippines component (January to June 2005), and a two-month period for the Australian component (May to June 2005).

In the Philippines component, progress against the objective of strengthening institutional support structures for Landcare included:
Establishing a working partnership with the Landcare Foundation of the Philippines Inc (LFPI).
Establishing the Landcare Coordinators Network (LCN) and conducting two LCN workshops.
Seeking opinions on existing NRM institutional support structures within government, civil society and private industry sectors, for possible case study to identify appropriate issues for a successful Landcare agency.
Strengthening existing municipal Landcare associations and other local structures at the three existing sites of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon and South Cotabato through:

Misamis Oriental
Re-scoping of institutions and issues across the province;
Development and implementation of a strategy to focus efforts on five core sites across the province - the well-established Landcare sites of Claveria and Malitbog as key learning and innovation sites, and three strategically-located satellite learning sites in Alubijid, Sugbongcogon and Kinoguitan; to focus the main effort on building and enhancing the effective Landcare capacity of LGUs and the provincial government; and maintain a watching brief on potential Landcare scaling-out sites in neighbouring provinces to the west of Misamis Oriental.
Bukidnon
Development and implementation of a strategy to focus efforts on five core sites across the province - the municipality of Lantapan; re-invigorating the Landcare programs in the municipalities of Manolo Fortich and Malaybalay City; and developing new programs in one or two new municipalities where factors conducive to Landcare exist; focus the main effort on building and enhancing the effective Landcare capacity of both Landcare institutions (such as the Lantapan Land Care Association, Farmer Training Group, and LFPI) and the local and provincial governments; and maintain a watching brief on potential Landcare scaling-out sites in neighbouring provinces to the south and west of Bukidnon.
South Cotabato
Development and implementation of a strategy to enhance the Landcare structures and processes established during the previous project at the Barangay Ned site; scale-out Landcare to the province of South Cotabato through targeting a small number of strategically-important upland municipalities near the Mt. Matutum, Mt. Parker and Mt. Roxas mountain ranges; and build partnerships with, and enhance the effective Landcare capacity of, LGUs, Landcare institutions and NGOs.
Initiation of effective Landcare programs in the new sites of Bohol and Agusan del Sur through:
Bohol
Scoping of the site completed with meetings with key stakeholders, and identification of appropriate entry points and engagement processes;
Identification of two priority project sites - the Carood watershed and San Isidro, and the further investigation of four other sites (Carmen, Danao, Dagohoy and Sagbayan);
Development of partnerships with a number of LGUs and NGOs, and preliminary site engagement.
Agusan del Sur
Scoping of the site completed with collection and review of data, mapping of key players in the province, and courtesy visits to key players;
Identification of six municipalities as key focus areas - three in the upper part of the province (Bayugan, Esperansa and Sibagat), and three in the lower part (Bunawan, Trento and Sta. Josefa);
Development of partnerships with the municipal LGU and other institutions, and preliminary site engagement.

Progress against the objective of sustaining and scaling up adoption of conservation farming systems and diversified livelihoods included:
Conduct of 32 major training, capacity building and networking events across the five sites;
Provision of six facilitation, information and support services to improve productivity, diversification and resource sustainability of member farms.

Progress against the objective of analysing and evaluating impacts included:
Establishing a broad research infrastructure and research process, and orientating and training project staff;
Refinement of the plan through two workshops of the LCN in March and June, and an M&E mini-workshop in April;
Development of a process documentation system through training provided by Dr Linda Burton of RIMCU;
Establishment of a minimum set of baseline information;
Development of a list of site research topics and individual site process documentation priorities;
Development of a research design for one major area of research at each site;
Involvement of two graduate students from local universities in the research program.

Progress in the coordination and management of the project included:
Staff recruitment completed, site teams established and office accommodation secured;
A major project team orientation and planning workshop conducted in February, with 24 personnel participating, where work plans for the sites were developed;
Documentation of roles and responsibilities for all project staff completed;
A draft communications plan developed with multiple strategies for addressing internal and external communication, many of which were initiated;
The Project Management Committee established with its inaugural meeting conducted;
A draft project M&E system for the project developed and a draft security plan in progress.

Project publications included five conference papers, theses or books, and nine other feature articles or press items. Of particular note was the completion and launch of the Landcare book Landcare in the Philippines - Stories of people and places, development of a special communications collaborative partnership with E-connect Communications, the development of a project ezine, and the initial stages of development of a project web site/web portal.

Project staff undertook training through 11 training events, including two at an international level, two at a national level and seven at a local level.

For the Australian component, little progress was possible in the short two months of project operation, with the major activities being further development and review of the research components, with eight research components now documented, and scoping of the project and its research approach with three major stakeholders.

2. PROGRESS SUMMARY
In the Philippines component, progress against the objective of strengthening institutional support structures for Landcare included:
The working partnership with the Landcare Foundation of the Philippines Inc (LFPI) was continued and a more formal involvement of the Foundation in the project's institutional research achieved. Data gathering and preliminary documentation of the research were completed.
The Landcare Coordinators Network (LCN) continued to develop with the conduct of three workshops and progress of a number of collaborative cross-site initiatives including a Landcare Peoples' Organisation Forum in December. Processes to evaluate the effectiveness of the Network were developed and commenced with preliminary data gathering and documentation of the research completed.

Progress against the objective of sustaining and scaling up adoption of conservation farming systems and diversified livelihoods included:
Fifty-five major training and networking events were facilitated or provided across the five sites. In the area of diversification of livelihoods, these included training and exposure to expertise in nursery management; the production of forage, high value vegetables, fruit trees (durian, lanzone, rambutan, mangosteen), livestock (goats, poultry), coffee, coconut, abaca, bamboo, mushrooms, medicinal plants, bananas, wood products and fish; and integrated crop production. In the area of conservation farming systems, the events included training in soil and water conservation, agroforestry, permaculture, soil testing, integrated pest management, biodynamic production systems, natural farming technologies and vermi-composting.

Progress against the objective of analysing and evaluating impacts included:
The process documentation system developed in the previous year was implemented at all sites with Landcare Coordinators capturing issues of importance and reflections on progress through the quarterly reporting and nine-monthly review workshops.
The research on institutional support structures for Landcare including the Landcare Foundation, the Landcare Coordinators Network and selected case studied organisations was largely completed with analysis and documentation now in progress. Preliminary findings highlight the importance of factors such as commitment, competence, leadership, incentives and effective partnerships as key factors in institutional success.
A major focus of site teams during the year was the profiling of adoption data. Creative methods for collection of adoption data were implemented, including diagnostic cards and incentives to facilitate more rapid collection. An encouraging feature was the involvement of personnel from LGUs, Landcare associations and NGO collaborators in the collection of adoption data. Adoption of Landcare technologies was again shown to be significant with over 1300 farmer adopters profiled in the established Misamis Oriental site, and over 150 in the new Bohol site.

Progress in the coordination and management of the project included:
A major project team review workshop was conducted in Bohol in November, with more than 30 personnel participating. Project progress for the first nine months and forward work plans for the next nine months were reviewed. Training on extension methods was provided to Landcare Coordinators prior to the workshop and re-echoed to the Landcare Assistants during the workshop. A meeting of the Project Management Committee was held in conjunction with the workshop, where clarification of cross-agency issues and conflicts were resolved.
An evaluation of the project ezine, newsMATE, was completed with the survey showing a high level of support for and satisfaction with the concept.
A project website and internal web portal www.landcaremates.org was completed and made operational. A start was also made on a complementary web-based image management system for project images.
The conduct of the review workshop in Bohol facilitated the interfacing between the Landcare project team and the project team of the ACIAR Bohol Watershed Project. Seven personnel from the project attended part of the review workshop and the two teams undertook a joint field trip to project sites in Alicia and Pilar.
A new component of research was added to the project in mid 2006, with the inclusion of research on interfacing vegetable integrated crop management technologies with Landcare groups in the South Cotabato and Bukidnon sites. The component brought Ms Valeriana Justo into the project team and the University of Philippines Los Banos (National Crop Protection Center) into the project partnership.

For the Australian component, progress against objectives included:

Scoping of project and engagement with stakeholders
Characterisation of Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area of Sunshine Coast
Survey of landholders within selected study areas to determine needs and aspirations
Development, analysis and testing of selected processes for landholders in study areas
Identification and exploration of models of economic, social and environmental cooperation between landholders

In the Philippines component, progress against the objective of strengthening institutional support structures for landcare included:

The project's research on institutional models for landcare was completed and the results captured in a project Working Paper Learning from institutions and designing a Landcare support agency.
To better inform the development of the two-year project extension a series of workshops and consultative meetings with management and staff of LFPI and project partner agencies were conducted in April 2007.
There was an encouraging strong growth and diversification of landcare institutional support at the site level throughout the year.
In the new scaling up site of Bohol, the process of establishment and consolidation of landcare in the three pilot municipalities of San Isidro, Alicia and Pilar was completed, with good evidence of local ownership at the LGU and farmer levels.
In the other new scaling up "greenfield" site of Agusan del Sur, the process of establishment of landcare in the five pilot municipalities of Bayugan, Bunawan, Sibagat, Sta Josefa and Trento was completed.
The project's Landcare Coordinators Network (LCN) continued to provide a professional networking and collaborative training resources across the five project sites.

Progress against the objective of sustaining and scaling up adoption of conservation farming systems and diversified livelihoods included:

During the period under review, 69 major training and networking events were facilitated by the project across the five project sites, involving more than 2,500 farmers.
In the new scaling-up sites a total of 1000 adopters had been recorded by the end of the period under review - 468 in Bohol and 532 in Agusan del Sur.
Adoption of diversified livelihoods was evident in more than 80% of the more than 2,500 farmers involved in training and networking events.

Progress against the objective of analysing and evaluating impacts included:

With the conclusion of the three-year original term of the project, all project outputs, outcomes and impacts, were collected and are being consolidated and analysed for publication in an impact evaluation report to be published by December 2007.
A major two-day participatory evaluation of the landcare program by project staff and partner agency personnel was conducted during the Second Review Workshop in Bohol in August 2006. Participants provided reflections on what had been learnt as well as suggestions on what form an expansion of the landcare program should take.
A number of individual research projects undertaken by project staff were completed and will be published as working papers in late 2007.
A major study of the economic impacts of landcare, based at the Bohol site, was established and continued during the period under review. The study completed a survey of farmers at two sites and initial work on analysing the aggregated impact of changing land use from landcare at the watershed level using crop, household and watershed modelling.

Progress in the coordination and management of the project included:

Two major project team review workshops were conducted during the period under review - the first in Bohol in August 2006, and the second in Davao in April 2007.
To assist in the identification and promotion of the project, a project visual expression (VE) was developed and a project logo initiated.
The web-based image management system for project images, located on the project internal web portal, was completed and made available to project staff.
A major external review of the project, commissioned by ACIAR to assess progress against objectives and guide future project directions in a potential project extension, was conducted in November 2006
Through additional special funding from AusAID to supplement project funding, a delegation of 20 personnel from the Philippines was organised and facilitated on a 10 day study tour of Australian landcare, including attendance at the Second International Landcare Conference in Melbourne.
In addition to the Australian Landcare Study tour, project staff undertook specialised training in seven major training events, including two at a national level and five at a local or personal level.

For the Australian component, progress against objectives included:

In the Hunchy study site, the biophysical and socio-economic datasets that had been gathered previously were further interrogated by overlaying data pertaining to State Government vegetation laws, local government special management areas (SMAs) and local government compliance codes for specific development activities.
A collaborative partnership was established with the Centre for Rural and Regional Innovation (CRRIQ) of the University of Queensland to undertake the major survey of landholders within the study sites

Philippines component
The project made excellent progress during the year under review, with all but one of the eight milestones being achieved.
For Objective 1 - enabling the Landcare Foundation of the Philippines Inc (LFPI) to evolve and take on the defined roles and responsibilities for the broader development of Landcare in the Philippines - progress against milestones was as follows:
A comprehensive two-tiered analysis of existing institutional issues for Landcare was completed and the results collated into an institutional baseline report. The analysis involved structured interviews of 48 stakeholders and four investigative workshops for LFPI Board and staff, facilitated by contracted institutional development consultants.
Using the results of the analysis through a process of two strategic planning workshops and small group discussions, a draft institutional development plan for LFPI was completed and endorsed by the LFPI Board and staff. However, while the development of a performance framework agreed by LFPI was not completed, a rudimentary framework was included in the institutional development plan and will be finalised early in the next reporting period through coordination between LFPI and the Project Leader.
The seven field staff employed by ICRAF and SEARCA were successfully transferred to LFPI under new contracts following a series of three workshops to gain agreement on roles and responsibilities, conditions of employment, site logistics and administrative procedures for the transfer.
For Objective 2 - implementing community-level Landcare activities that lead to economic growth - progress against milestones was as follows:
A regional network of three teams of Landcare Coordinators and Facilitators was established covering Northern Mindanao (Provinces of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon), Southern Mindanao (Provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Davao del Sur) and Visayas (Province of Bohol). Through three project team workshops, a project network plan for coordinating the seven field staff across their employing agencies (ICRAF and SEARCA) and their intended employing agency (LFPI) was incrementally developed. Regional priorities were developed and implemented in line with the objective of demonstrating the role of Landcare in delivering livelihood benefits to farmers, primarily economic growth and human security.
A performance framework for monitoring and evaluating regional activities was agreed by the three regional teams and LFPI. This was facilitated through a special M&E training and development workshop in October and subsequently refined through input from the Research Director and other senior project staff. Site teams will report progress against the framework at a special workshop in June 2008.
The detailed evaluation of the economic impacts of Landcare in the Bohol site, commenced in 2006, continued. The study has shown clear evidence of a development progression through Landcare from the initial adoption of natural vegetative strips (NVS) on degraded land to the establishment of a more diverse and commercially orientated farming system. While figures indicate a substantial increase in gross cash income in some instances, a series of case studies has been documented to describe the various land use pathways, how household access to resources influences its progression, and how various trends and shocks can inhibit or reverse the progress. The study will be completed and published by the end of 2008.
The proposed Institutional development/M&E specialist appointment to LFPI was refined to a position of "Research Manager" and the appointment completed in March.
Australian component
As a result of an eight-month delay in the completion of a social values survey of peri-urban landholders by the contractor, no significant work was completed during the period under review and the milestones of the project have been re-scheduled. The social values survey was an essential component of the baseline research data necessary to design and initiate the research process with peri-urban landholders. However, the delay not expected to significantly impact on the overall outcomes of the Australian component, although it now seems unlikely that the process with landholders will be able to be trialled at more than one site.