Hunger After the Typhoon

In the aftermath of super typhoon Haima in the Philippines, a silent hunger is looming as villages struggle to cope with the loss of rice and corn crops. Their plight reveals the urgent need to climate proof the country's agriculture system.

The strongest storm to have hit the country in three years, Haima left 14 people dead, smashed more than 115,000 homes and flattened vast tracts of rice and corn fields across two major agricultural provinces.

Greenpeace investigated the impacts of the late season super typhoon in the last week of October, meeting local authorities and people like farm labourer Lisa Bautista, whose home in the village of Viga in Cagayan province was uprooted by the storm.

Crossing to her village by boat, we found her as she scavenged through discarded harvested rice for any leftovers to feed her family of five children. Whatever she could find, half of it still had to be shared with the farmer who owned the crop.

Bautista was among 50 families in a village of up to 600 families to receive one week's worth of food relief from the Department of Social Welfare. But with the next harvest not due till March or April, no one could say what would happen next.

Harvest month impacted

"Of course, people will go hungry. Look at what's happened. People approach me, but I have nothing to give," village chief Florante Duarte said, adding that a village 'calamity fund' will feed another 42 families, but just for one week only.

Bautista is one of many across the Philippines who lack land entitlements; she is paid 250 pesos (USD 5.16) a day for irregular farm work such as harvest, weeding or planting but has no rights to the land or the crop. They are at the lowest of the agricultural system.

In nearby Nangalisan village, farm worker Alfredo Abella, 59, does have land rights, but only harvested 100 sacks of rice instead of an expected 500. He can keep 12 percent of the crop, but will need to borrow money to buy food until the next harvest. He is worried about finding sufficient paid work.

"We are concerned for the families, especially those with damaged homes," says Department of Social Welfare regional director Ponciana Condoy, who was – when we spoke with her in her office – readying compensation to be paid out in coming months for those whose houses had been demolished.

October is usually the harvest month for rice, making the timing of this typhoon – the strongest ever to hit Cagayan province – especially devastating. Some farmers were fortunate and harvested in time, others were not. Many villagers now talk of a changing climate – delayed rainfall, stronger typhoons and drought.

Climate resiliency

The Philippines gets hit on average by about 20 typhoons every year, but has endured a series of damaging late season, super-charged typhoons in recent years.

The country just marked the third anniversary of the deadly super typhoon Haiyan, but has also been hit by late season super typhoons Hagupit and Bopha in recent years.

To avoid the impact of this rising number of 'unseasonal' typhoons, such as Haima, the regional head of the Department of Agriculture, Lucrecio Alviar, is urging for harvests to be completed before October.

"We must carefully plan the growing season. We can control water and partly plant in anticipation of water. If you can't fight nature, you must embrace it," Alviar said.

The Department of Agriculture was releasing buffer rice and corn seeds to help farmers recover, but in the village of Viga alone, a third of all households were vying for seed relief and demand was expected to outstrip supply. The national government needs to supply more.

Greenpeace is advocating for climate resilient farming. Working with partners to help Filipino farmers adapt to climate change, we have been establishing resiliency field schools, local weather advisories, farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges and promoting the adoption of ecological agriculture.

In coming weeks, we will be working to help farmers access seeds to replant their fields. But more needs to be done and there is no time to waste.

Changing weather patterns

Farmers like Marilyn Espuerta in Samanu Sur in Isabela province are trying to adapt to changing rainfall patterns. Rains are now coming in September rather than May/June, impacting her family's corn planting periods.

Espuerta was already struggling due to drought sparked by this year's strong El Niño, but landslides caused by super typhoon Haima have now cut her corn harvest to 44 bags, down from an expected 210 bags.

Her debt is already at 1 million pesos (USD 20,600). It’s a similar story across many villages where farmers are borrowing money for seeds, food and supplies – trapped in a cycle of debt that only serves the interest of big industrial agriculture companies.

This is the injustice of it: those who have had no role in the warming of our planet are paying the price and trying to adjust. Many of them are scavenging for food and though strong and proud, they are suffering and in coming months will go hungry.

Food security cannot wait any longer.