Suchergebnisse

Persons with disability (PWDs) are among the vulnerable groups in the country that need utmost attention from the government. This is perhaps the reason why the institutional and legal environment has been made favorable to this particular group, especially in the area of employment. However, earlier reports note that the quality of employment of PWDs still needs improvement.This paper examines the employment profile of PWDs in the Philippines using the 2008 and 2010 disability surveys in selected cities of Metro Manila (urban) and Rosario, Batangas (rural), respectively. Key findings of this paper are as follows: (1) Proportion of employed among PWD respondents in the urban area is relatively higher than that in the rural area; (2) Roughly half of working PWDs are underemployed; (3) Employed PWDs in the urban area are dominated by the visually-impaired while the hearing-impaired has the highest proportion of employed in the rural area; (4) The leading occupation among PWDs in the urban area is masseur while farmer/farm worker/livestock and poultry raiser in the rural area, although many respondents in both areas are also engaged in entrepreneurial activities (e.g., managing a sari-sari store, e-load business, among others) and are working as helpers/utility workers or laborers; (5) The majority of employed respondents in both areas are considered as vulnerable workers - self-employed and unpaid family workers; (6) Some PWDs who are wage/salary workers are considered as informally employed as they are working as temporary workers without formal contract, seasonal workers, or hired on a daily basis; (7) Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) suggests that being a member in a Disabled People's Organization and being at least high school graduate strongly correlate with being employed; and (8) MCA also revealed that PWDs who are at least college graduates are more closely related to being officers/managers/supervisors, professionals, and technicians/associate professionals while those who are at most elementary graduates tend to be laborers/unskilled and agricultural workers.

This paper examined how PWDs in the Philippines make a living and determined the factors that influenced them to select a particular labor market status and/or a source of personal income. It also analyzed the different types of work these PWDs engage in and their association with levels of education. Using dataset from the pioneering survey on socioeconomic conditions of PWDs in selected cities in Metro Manila, Philippines conducted in 2008, econometric analyses were conducted. The paper then presented some insights that could help the government craft better policy strategies in the provision of livelihood to, as well as empowerment of, PWDs.

In the Philippines, women and children with disabilities were found to have lower literacy and school participation rates, and generally have lower educational attainment, than male persons with disability (PWDs) and nondisabled children. This paper is part of the joint project of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the Institute of Developing Economies. It looked into the school participation of children with disability in Mandaue City and San Remigio, Cebu, Philippines. Using survey data (collected involving PWD enumerators) and key informant interviews with various stakeholders, the study found that school participation among PWD children is generally low in both study sites. Possible reasons for low school participation are: type and severity of impairment, distance of school (especially in rural area, San Remigio), household size, and income. Some recommendations include making sure that assistive devices given to PWD children match their needs, possible learning livelihood and basic health care modules/trainings for parents, exploring ways to train more teachers (including the Alternative Learning System or ALS) to handle children with disabilities, and possible local government unit partnerships to provide venues for the ALS. Lastly, the study recommends pushing for more awareness to make schools not just "child friendly" but also "PWD friendly".

This paper documents the activities of the National Food Authority (NFA), particularly on rice marketing, in realizing its mandates of buying high and selling low. Because the Philippine agriculture is greatly affected by extreme climate events such as El Niño and La Niña, this paper highlights the importance of seasonal climate forecast (SCF) information as input to the formulation of various policy decisions of the NFA. Among these important policy decisions are: how much volume of paddy rice to procure from farmers to be able to defend its support price; how much volume of rice to maintain in order to achieve stability in the supply and consumer price; and how much volume of rice, as well as when is the best time, to import to be able to position the optimal level of stocks in time for the lean season. It is also argued in the paper that importation has been playing a significant role in the rice supply-demand situation of the country since 1990, making it one of the most significant government interventions in the rice sector. Based on historical data assessment, some of the worst events in the past such as the 1995 rice crisis and over-importation during the 1997-1998 El Niño could have been avoided if policy decisions, particularly on the volume and timing of rice importation, were linked to SCF. Indeed, linking crop production and import decisions more systematically with SCF would enhance the usefulness of these forecasts at a more practical level.

Under the Aquino administration, premium subsidies on agricultural insurance have significantly increased, mostly due to the special programs being implemented by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC). This paper attempts to describe the various fully subsidized agricultural insurance programs of the PCIC, the rationale of each, the beneficiary selection procedures that they undertake, and highlight the implementation issues and concerns that might have policy and welfare implications crucial to their success. The paper finds that the lack of predictability or continuity in implementing these programs, coupled with difficulties in interagency coordination, has posed operational challenges in implementing these. There is also a need for an overarching policy to guide the administration of government subsidies in agricultural insurance, as well as guidelines on prioritization of beneficiaries, to help PCIC offer continued services to the identified beneficiaries and determine who to prioritize.

Risk is a daily reality especially among agricultural producers in developing countries, thus agricultural insurance is of interest to farmers, policymakers, insurance companies, and development finance institutions. From a survey data of 2,512 farmers, this paper sheds light on the possible factors affecting insurance availment among the farmers in five selected regions in the Philippines. The farmers' reasons for availing of crop include: encouraged by neighbors, friends, relatives and because of the agricultural technicians in the local government unit. Farmers also shared that insurance is a requirement for getting a loan. Among the possible factors for insurance uptake, level of education, farming experience, and membership in farmer organization are significant factors in the availment of crop insurance from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation. Increasing coverage rate of crop insurance among farmers remains to be a challenge in a highly subsidized crop insurance program of the Philippines.

The year 2013 marks the fifth year of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) implementation in the country since its inception in 2008. The first batch of beneficiaries will be graduating from the program in several months' time. Meanwhile, the government continues to expand the implementation devising along the way several variants that it deems necessary to address the many facets of poverty. The 4Ps is by far the largest poverty reduction and social development program the Philippine government has ever conceived. Approximately PHP 120 billion have already been allocated to the program up to 2013.The program's dual objectives are social assistance and social development. It provides cash assistance to poor families to alleviate their immediate needs and aims to "break the intergenerational poverty cycle through investments in human capital." As program graduation nears, many questions arise of what to expect from this program. It is rather fitting at this point to draw together assessments that have been conducted so far and to look into some important issues in terms of design and implementation. The paper seeks to answer whether expanding the program would likely yield better results or not. It discusses the outstanding issues most especially those on the aspects that have a bearing on the program's ability to facilitate inclusive growth.

In the face of seasonal climate variability, the smallholder farmers, particularly those in rural communities, are among the most adversely affected. As a way to address this, together with concern on low productivity, the Philippine government has been implementing a range of risk management programs for farmers and other agricultural stakeholders. Based on key informant surveys and focus group discussions with rice and corn farmers conducted in key producing areas, however, farmers reported that they still have limited options in terms of changing their production decisions in response to seasonal climate forecasts (SCFs). Among the risk mitigation tools available, the following emerged as most preferred by farmers: localized climate information, accessible credit, crop insurance, and special assistance programs such as irrigation and seeds provision. This paper tackles these programs in detail and then discusses the challenges besetting these programs. The paper also presents some policy options which could enhance the delivery of these agricultural services in pursuit of improved productivity and welfare in target farming communities in the country.

Providing agricultural insurance to farmers and fisherfolk in the Philippines has been implemented for nearly three decades. While it is agreed that agricultural insurance is crucial in assisting farmers, fisherfolk, and governments in lessening the negative financial impact of natural events, issues of providing premium subsidies and being tied to credit in the Philippines remain to be important policy issues. This paper reviews available information about partnerships between local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation. The aim is to look at these innovations that may promote and enhance agricultural insurance in the Philippines. Providing for full premium subsidies and as a form of loan to the farmers was implemented by the LGUs reviewed in this paper. Further study is needed to determine which scheme works best in terms of increasing coverage over the long term and ensuring financial viability.

While agricultural insurance has long been considered a risk management tool for farmers in both developing and developed economies, policy directions toward sustainability vary across countries. Reviewing the literature provides a comprehensive view of relevant issues, such as objectives of the program, credit access by farmers, program costs, and premium subsidies provided by the national and local governments. This paper provides insights on how agricultural insurance programs from selected developed and developing economies were implemented. Learning from different country experiences, agricultural insurance is important yet costly to implement. Private insurance companies complement with the government-run insurance company to improve coverage rates. Targeting eligible beneficiaries is crucial in the success of a highly subsidized agricultural insurance, especially in developing economies.

The situation of the poor who participate in the country's agricultural sector has been exacerbated by the increasingly prevalent natural calamities, pests, and other such unpredictable event. However, there are certain risk management tools that aid in lessening the farmers' financial burden when losses related to such natural disasters are incurred. One of them is the crop or agricultural insurance. In the Philippines, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) is the government organization that implements rice, corn, high-value commercial crop, livestock, noncrop agricultural asset, fishery, and term insurance programs. The question thus arises regarding the effectiveness and sustainability of the said programs. It is thus the purpose of this study to review the design and implementation of the PCIC's insurance programs. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions with various PCIC clients and partners in selected regions of the country, together with desktop review and secondary data analysis, were conducted.

In the Philippines, importation has remained as one of the most feasible options for the government to meet the growing demand for rice. It is thus imperative for the government to develop a strategy that would ensure adequate supply and minimum importation costs. One of the critical factors in import decisionmaking is rice production. The Inter-Agency Committee on Rice and Corn (IACRC), where the National Food Authority (NFA) and Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) are members, decides on importation when there is an impending production shortfall in the coming season. However, because Philippine agriculture is vulnerable to extreme climate events and climate change is believed to further intensify the effects of seasonal climate variability, rice production forecast is becoming more uncertain. Inaccurate production forecasts could lead to incorrect volume and ill-timing of rice imports, which in turn could result in either a waste of resources for the government or a burden to consumers. Contraction of rice imports in the early 1990s, ill-timing of imports in 1995, and overimportation in 1998 illustrate how inaccurate forecasts of volume and timing of rice importation, especially during El Niño and La Niña years, could result in substantial economic costs such as higher rice prices due to rice shortages, higher storage costs, among others. This paper evaluates the significance of SCF information, among other things, in rice policy decisions of the government, particularly on importation. It presents an alternative method of forecasting the level of rice production through regional rice production models. The rice production models systematically incorporate SCF and could be used in support of the current practice of forecasting rice production based on planting intentions. The paper also demonstrates how SCF, together with these production estimates, could be incorporated in the rice import decisions of the government through the Rice Importation Simulation (RIS) model, which was developed using a Discrete Stochastic Programming (DSP) modelling approach. The RIS model, which recommends a set of optimal rice import strategies, could serve as guide for the government in its rice import decisions in the face of seasonal climate variability and could be used in estimating the potential value of SCF.