The Philippines has been tagged as the 13th most climate-vulnerable out of 186 countries. To help local farmers deal with the effects of climate change, technology will play a key role in promoting resilience in the agriculture sector.
A project called “Improving Productivity in Agriculture through Climate-Smart Technology” or ImPACT Philippines has been launched to help smallholder farmers in Benguet manage their use of farming inputs.

Climate-smart technology developed by ImPACT partner Pessl Instruments called METOS will be provided free for the farmers. It’s a very rugged data logger for all climatic conditions and is powered by rechargeable batteries and a solar panel. The data logger has a built-in GPRS modem for direct communication with Pessl Instruments’ world-renowned field climate technology.

The METOS instruments will enable farmers to monitor weather patterns and model forecasts for their fields. The standalone system measures environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, leaf wetness and insect pressure. Collected data are sent to the farmer’s mobile phone.

“One of the objectives of ImPACT Philippines is to reduce usage of agricultural inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, and water,” explains ImPACT Philippines Director Arnel Go. “With climate smart technology, smallholder farmers are better-equipped to make the better decisions even with changing climates.”

ImPACT also has a capacity development component where farmers and agricultural technicians are given new skills trainings and exposure to new farming methods driven by Climate-Smart concepts.

ImPACT Philippines is implemented under the DeveloPPP program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through DEG. The project is supported by the Agricultural Training Institute and Calata Corporation.

About ASSIST

Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST) is a self-sustaining pan-Asian non-profit organization that seeks to achieve sustainable transformation whilst ensuring improvement of social equity amongst all. Our goal is to empower our target groups and make them resilient to social, economic and environmental challenges.

About DEG

DEG, a member of the KfW Bankengruppe (KfW banking group), finances investments of private companies in developing and transition countries. As one of Europe’s largest development finance institutions, it promotes private business structures to contribute to sustainable economic growth and improved living conditions.