Table of Contents

Climate change and water security .............................................................................................................. 1

Industry Monitor:Water Security.................................................................................................................. 6
Philippines' water and sanitation crisis......................................................................................................... 8
Raising awareness for water security and sanitation ................................................................................... 9
Glossary ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 12
 Climate change and water security
BY DR. WILLIAM DAR

JUNE 23, 2017

On June 15, I delivered a speech during the one-day “Conference on The Effects of

Climate Change on Food and Water Sustainability: Challenges and Prospects” held at the

Manila Elks Club in Makati City.

I discussed why the Philippines is not “water secure” and how to address the issue of

water availability for the agriculture sector in the face of climate change.

The followers of my column can treat this as a third installment to my two-part column-

series on a possible water crisis (‘Agriculture’s water problems can become too big’), but other

issues are highlighted here to make aware to the public that the country is not yet “water

secure.”

Based on the National Water Security (NSW) Index by Economy of the Asian

Development Bank (ADB) from its Asian Water Development Outlook 2016, the Philippines is

ranked fifth among the seven Asean countries with an NSW score of 40.4. The highest score is

100. Singapore topped the rankings with 82.9 followed by Malaysia (73.4), Thailand (54.4) and

Indonesia (49.8). Trailing the Philippines were Vietnam (40.2) and Cambodia (47.5).

The overall ranking of Singapore in Asia is No. 3 and the Philippines No. 38. The ADB

report gave the Philippines an NSW index of “2” along with Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and

Cambodia. The highest score is “5” with Singapore getting “4” and Malaysia “3”.

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 So what does this mean? Simple – the Philippines still has a lot to do when it comes to

water security. And with the advent of climate change, we should not waste time undertaking

programs and projects to make sure the country will not have a water crisis.

Based on the World Risk Report, the country ranks third among countries worldwide at

most risk to climate change with a score of 29.33 just behind very undeveloped nations like

Vanuatu (36.28) and Tonga (29.33).

Two events usually accompany the extreme weather changes from climate change:

excess rainfall and storms; and drought. The Philippines actually gets both every year,

exacerbated by El Nino and La Nina. The usual scenario is the country has so much rain that

causes flooding of many farms during the wet season, and there is little water during the dry

season.

On the distaff, the country’s annual rainfall of 2,300-2,400 mm is a blessing if there were

measures to harvest rainwater and mitigate the effects of flooding.

In the Philippines, agriculture is the biggest user of water at 80 percent.

So the challenge of food security is directly related to the challenge of water availability,

which will be greatly affected by climate change. But climate change is not the only factor that is

affecting agriculture with the other factors being: loss of biodiversity; population explosion; and

even low crop yields which can cause the conversion of forest and grasslands into farms.

Combine those factors and we can conclude that agriculture faces the “perfect storm.”

I can also state that we can no longer look at food security, poverty, population growth,

social justice and climate change as separate issues.

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 Apparently, treating those issues separately has resulted, among others, to the increase

in lands devoted to farming at the expense of forest cover. While there are quarters who

contend that unabated logging is the prime culprit for forest loss cover, statistics show that there

is also a correlation between increase in lands devoted to farming and loss of forest cover,

according to data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental

Management Bureau, and the Department of Agriculture Climate Change Office.

In the 1980s, the country had 7.4 million hectares of forest cover and 8.95 million

hectares of farms. In the 1990s, forest cover went down to 6.2 million hectares while lands

devoted to farming reached a high of 13.1 million hectares, and by the turn of the new

millennium, forest cover was further reduced to 5.4 million hectares while agricultural lands was

at 11.5 million hectares.

We can draw a simple analysis from such figures that without adequate forest cover,

there would not be enough water for farming, which somehow explains why lands devoted for

agriculture dropped to 11.5 million hectares by the year 2000.

I can also say the effects of climate change led to the reduction of agriculture lands,

which I believe is less than 11 million hectares today.

Devoting more lands for farming given the effects of climate change, however, is no

longer viable given extreme weather events.

One good measure to deal with the effects of climate change on agriculture is the

“Hypothesis of Hope” conceptualized by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-

Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), which I headed from 2000 to 2014.

Under the Hypothesis of Hope, the Philippines is most likely under the scenario of “Low

Input Practices + Current Climate” or “Improved Practices + Current Climate.” The best-case

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scenario under the Hypothesis of Hope is “Improved Practices + Improved Germplasm +

Current Climate,” where farmers have improved their practices, and improved or high-yielding

varieties that are drought and flood tolerant are widely used.

So how can the Philippine agriculture sector attain “Improved Practices + Improved

Germplasm + Current Climate”? That scenario actually addresses the issues of food security,

poverty, social justice and climate change simultaneously.

Poverty and social justice are addressed because farmers are empowered if they are

trained continuously on how to improve their production practices, and if they consolidate their

production. Taking it one step further, farmers who consolidate their production can organize

themselves into cooperatives so they have better bargaining toward traders.

Food security is addressed under the “Improved Practices + Improved Germplasm +

Current Climate” because that scenario can deliver yield increases of up to 200 percent

compared to the “Low Input Practices + Current Climate” or “Improved Practices + Current

Climate” scenarios.

And lastly, the best-case scenario under the Hypothesis of Hope also addresses climate

change because improved farming practices utilizes the best seeds and inputs that will result in

less water used in growing crops. So there will also be no need to convert forests into

farmlands, and soil and water resources can be rejuvenated also using the Bhoochetana

approach. Better soil health can result in less water use!

As for the issues of population explosion, the issue should be addressed the soonest by

the national government.

The Hypothesis of Hope clearly shows that science and technology needs to be

harnessed to make farms more productive, and to mitigate the effects of climate change on

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agriculture. And with farms using less water, the Philippines can improve its natural water

reserves.

Based on research conducted by UPLB, four regions in the Philippines – Cagayan

Valley, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and the Bicol Region – will face a deficit in water supply

from their localities by 2025 if nothing is done to address water issues. By 2025, the country’s

water demand was placed at 85,401 millions cubic meter (MCM) and supply at 145,990 MCM

for a surplus of 60,586 MCM.

Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon are major producers of rice or corn, while parts of

Southern Luzon are undergoing rapid urbanization.

So the country really needs to get its act together to address the country’s water

security. Let us hope viable solutions are conceptualized in the upcoming Water Summit this

month.

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 Industry Monitor:Water Security

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7
 Philippines' water and sanitation crisis
Out of 101 million Filipinos, nine million rely on unimproved, unsafe and unsustainable

water sources and 19 million lack access to improved sanitation. Families without a safe water

source in or near their home often spend significant time and energy collecting water. Those

without a sanitary toilet facility at home face a number of unattractive choices, including

venturing out at night or suffering the embarrassment of asking to use the toilet of a neighbor.

Thus, Filipinos consider water and sanitation access a matter of safety, pride, progress,

and convenience, in addition to the health considerations. While about 75 percent of surveyed

Filipinos expressed an interest in a water and sanitation loan, previously few banks or

microfinance institutions offered loans specifically tailored to this purpose.

There is demand for water and sanitation loans in the Philippines - 75 percent of

surveyed Filipinos expressed interest.

Our impact in the Philippines

In 2014, Water.org expanded WaterCredit to the Philippines with the support of the

Caterpillar Foundation and Swiss Re Foundation. We now work with ten different microfinance

institutions, providing philanthropic and technical support to build their capacity to provide a

variety of water and sanitation solutions in urban and rural communities. From 2015 to 2017,

partners conducted research, trained staff, designed their loan products and executed lending

pilots.

We are expanding our partnerships, and by the end of 2018, we aim to reach more than two

million people with safe water and sanitation. In addition, we are developing innovative

approaches to working with municipal water utilities and developing new toilet models, so even

more low-income Filipinos can enjoy safe water and the dignity of a toilet.

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 Raising awareness for water security and sanitation
By Stephanie Tumampos - February 12, 2017

Over 15 million people in the Philippines have no access to clean and safe water.

Beyond this, the water supply for Filipinos is seen to be lesser in the coming years, as climate

change and overconsumption have greatly affected the country’s water resources.

“We feel like we have a lot of source of water, so we take it for granted,” Elisea G.

Gozun, Climate Resiliency team leader of the USAID Be Secure Project, said in an interview

with the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the Media Forum on Water Security and Climate

Change at a hotel in Makati City.

“Well, we don’t have a lot [of water],” said Gozun, a former environment secretary.

The Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability (Be Secure) Project is an

initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It works with

various stakeholders at the national level and in six areas around the country to improve water

security and resilience to climate change.

According to Gozun, in a study by the World Bank on the Philippine Environment Monitor

in 2000, “the findings show that we [the Philippines] are second to the lowest on per-capita

availability [of water]”.

The urgency to take on water security to the next level of awareness of the Filipino

people is a fact, she said. “Until when will we have water?”

This led Gozun to tackle a more important issue concerning water security—the effects

of climate change. “We can’t have water security, unless we consider the climate hazards,”

Gozun said. “You can’t plan on water, you can’t manage it effectively, unless you think about

the climate impacts,” she added.

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 Bringing the case of the Philippines, Gozun said the country has different climates in

each parts of the country. But “the good news is that Pag-asa [Philippine Atmospheric,

Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration] has downscaled the international

assessment of the International Protocol for Climate Change on weather and climate in the

Philippines on the provincial level,” she said.

Water security for Gozun is simple. “It’s not even rocket science!” she said. The problem

with the Filipinos, she said, is that the people forgot the old ways of storing rainwater for other

use, like using it for watering plants in the household. The new system has changed the

Filipinos, she said, they forgot how to store and manage rainwater and save it for dry days.

“When we’re planning on water, we forget to include how we will deal with rainwater. It

can actually be on our roof or on the runoff surface,” she said. “Instead of experiencing flood,

you can have rainwater storage.”

Another issue the USAID Be Secure project is addressing is water sanitation. Ramon

Alikpala, senior technical adviser of Be Secure Project, said Filipinos have misconceptions on

water sanitation.

“Very few communities have septage treatment, and there are only a few communities

that have access to proper sewerage in the country,” said Alikpala in an interview with the

BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the media forum. He added that, in other cases, houses and

establishments have pipes but with no treatment plant. “That’s the biggest problem, and that’s

one of the biggest pollution factors,” he said.

The Be Secure project also wants Filipinos to understand that in order to have a

constant supply of safe water, one must also pay for the water he or she discharges.

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 “The [people’s] mind-set has to be changed,” Alikpala said. “People are willing to pay for

water coming out of their pipes, but they don’t understand why they have to pay for water

they’re throwing away.”

Without water and proper sanitation, the effects on health and even on food supply will

be greatly affected, he said. Eighty-five percent of water is used by agriculture in the country,

and the rest is used in industrial, commercial and households.

If there is water shortage, the agriculture sector, the farmers will suffer the most. “Our

law requires providing and prioritizing consumption over anything else and that means, our

farmers will have to suffer and our food security will be at stake,” Gozun said.

“We ask you to make people understand, [become] aware and learn what the solutions

are,” she said. “Water security and sanitation must be a way of life, as we cannot survive

without of water,” she added.

Everything and everyone relies on clean and safe water. If the Filipinos would learn the

issues being raised by the Be Secure project, more Filipinos will have better access to water

and it wouldn’t be long for the Philippines to realize its long-term vision of access to safe,

adequate and sustainable water supply for all by the year 2025 as set by the National Economic

and Development Authority in its 2010 Philippine Water Supply Roadmap, Gozun and Alikpala

said.

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 Glossary
 Water security: Defined as "the reliable availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of
water for health, livelihoods and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related
risks"
 Water sanitation: Defined as the process of cleaning and purifying water so it is safe for use.
 Climate change: Is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change
lasts for an extended period of time.
 Over Consumption: refers to action or fact of consuming something to excess.

Bibliography
1. Dar, W. (23rd of June, 2017). Climate Change and Water Security

http://www.manilatimes.net/climate-change-water-security/334352/

2. https://www.devbnkphl.com/UserFiles/2014.06.23%20Water%20Security.pdf

3. https://water.org/our-impact/philippines/

4. https://businessmirror.com.ph/raising-awareness-for-water-security-and-sanitation/

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