PAFERN

The Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) is a coalition of 35 agroforestry institutions engaged in agroforestry education, research and development in the Philippines. PAFERN started in 1998 as an informal coalition of state colleges and universities engaged in agroforestry education programs. It was formally organized on November 24, 2001 as per decision made by the heads of the agroforestry schools who have attended the 1st National Meeting-Workshop.

PAFERN was registered with the securities and Exchange Commission on February 3, 2003. PAFERN aims to build institutional and staff capacities to help strengthen the agroforestry education, research and development programs, and at the same time, promote closer links between and among the agroforestry institutions to be able to address the issues and concerns in agroforestry development and promotionin the country.

Membership to PAFERN is open to all institutions actively engaged in agroforestry development and promotion. It operates through its principal bodies, namely: The General Assembly, comprised of the official representatives of each member-institution, which convenes annually; the Board, composed of two representatives elected by the member-institutions in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and the Chairman, elected by the General Assembly; and, the Secretariat based at the UPLB-IAF primarily responsible in coordinating the network activities.

Among the priority programs of PAFERN are as follows: a) Building institutional capacities for improved delivery of agroforestry education b) Strengthening institutional capacities for collaborative agroforestry research c) Improving learning facilities in agroforestry d) Promoting multisectoral partnership in agroforestry development and promotion e) Creating venues for information exhange among agroforestry stakeholders f) Securing quality agroforestry education g) Intensifying institutional linkages.

Interested institutions may apply for membership by filling-up the PAFERN Membership Form

BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS

Dr. Lutgarda L. Tolentino, Director - UPLB Institute of Agroforestry (Chair of the Board)
Dr. Orlando P. Almoite, Chancellor - Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (Board Member-Luzon)
Dr. Serafin L. Ngohayon, President, Ifugao State College of Agriculture and Forestry (Board Member-Luzon)
Dr. Ma. Eugenita C. Capaciete, Campus Administrator Western Visayas College of Science and Technology-Leon Campus (Board Member-Visayas)
Dr. Eduardo O. Mangaoang, Professor - College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Visayas State University (Board Member-Visayas)
Dr. Alexander M. Campaner, President, Southern Philippines Agribusiness, Marine and Aquatic School of Technology (Board Member-Mindanao)
Dr. Doroteo E. Jaquias, President, Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology (Board Member-Mindanao)
For. Rowena D. Cabahug, University Researcher, UPLB Institute of Agroforestry (Board Treasurer)
Ms. Leila D. Landicho, University Research Associate, UPLB Institute of Agroforestry (Board Secretary)

OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL AGROFORESTERS' ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (NAAP)

Dr. Orlando P. Almoite, Chancellor of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (President)
Dr. Serafin L. Ngohayon, President, Ifugao State College of Agriculture and Forestry (Vice-President)
Dr. Namerod F. Mateo, Research Director, University of Rizal System (Secretary)
Dr. Nelly C. Antolin, Professor, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (Treasurer)
Dr. Eduardo O. Mangaoang, Professor-College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Visayas State University (Public Relations Officer)
Dr. Eduardo T. Bagtang, President, Kalinga Apayao State College (Auditor)
Mr. Rodolfo Galang, Senior Agriculturist, Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (Business Manager)
Dr. Wilfredo M. Carandang, Professor, University of the Philippines Los Banos (Board Member-Luzon)
Dr. Ma. Eugenita C. Capaciete, Campus Administrator - Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (Board Member-Visayas).
Dr. Elpidio Bautista, President, Misamis Oriental State College of Agriculture and Technology (Board Member-Mindanao)

ANNOUNCEMENT

DECLARATION OF SUPPORT ON PROMOTING AGROFORESTRY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

CONSIDERING that climate change is a very alarming natural phenomenon because of its perceived negative impacts to the humanity around the world;

NOTING that the agriculture sector, particularly the farming communities are most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change because of the changes in the rainfall and temperature patterns that could limit food supply, alter cropping seasons, increase incidence of pests and diseases, and ultimately lead to declining agricultural productivity;

RECOGNIZING that agroforestry is a land use management system which combines the production of agricultural crops, woody perennials and livestock and/or aquatic resources to address socioeconomic productivity of the upland farmers, and ecological stability in the watershed continuum;

REALIZING that AGROFORESTRY systems produce multiple benefits such as increased income from diverse sources; increased food production; improved supply of fodder for fish and livestock; increased supply of fuelwood; improved soil fertility and water supply; and, improved habitats. Recognizing further that the diverse components of agroforestry provide multiple harvests at different times of the year thereby ensuring income and reducing the risk of crop loss. Because of these benefits, agroforestry can improve the lives of the farmers, help reduce poverty, and maintain ecological stability.

This Congress resolves and urges that:

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) should pursue policy advocacy to intensify the promotion of agroforestry as a development strategy within their spheres of influence. The policy initiatives may include the inclusion of agroforestry in the annual municipal and provincial development plans of the local government units; creation of plantilla items for Agroforesters at the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) of the local government units; and the delineation and classification of agroforestry areas

THE STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITY (SCUs) should continue implementing need-driven and responsive agroforestry education programs that would be able to address the needs of the society. The SCUs should identify strategies that would make their agroforestry education programs more attractive to the prospective students and employers

THE RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND SCUs should generate new knowledge through the conduct of research and development programs, including the documentation of successful agroforestry technologies, and climate change adaptation strategies of farmers from various areas in the Philippines. These documentation of agroforestry technologies should be packaged for dissemination among the agroforestry farmers for possible replication in their areas

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES PARTICULARLY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES to institute national policies and development programs that would lead towards institutionalizing agroforestry as a development strategy in the country

THE NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS to intensify agroforestry advocacy through their grassroots-level oriented extension programs and continuously serve as the bridge between the farming communities and the national and local government for the promotion of pro-farmer development programs

THE PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATIONS AND FARMERS to sustain the adoption of different agroforestry technologies, and the active participation in various agroforestry development endeavors;

THE PHILIPPINE AGROFORESTRY EDUCATION AND RESEARCH NETWORK (PAFERN) and the UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES LOS BANOS-INSTITUTE OF AGROFORESTRY to continue serving as the core organizations in agroforestry development and promotion in the Philippines. These organizations should continue conducting research and development projects; implementing capacity-building programs such as offering relevant training programs; facilitating and coordinating the national agroforestry activities; developing relevant IEC materials for information dissemination; and, lobbying for the institutionalization of agroforestry as a development strategy in the Philippines.

FINALLY, ALL STAKEHOLDERS should actively join the national and global crusade in promoting agroforestry.

In view of the foregoing, WE, the 155 participants of the 4^th National Agroforestry Congress, hereby affix our signatures as a sign of our support and commitment not only to promote agroforestry as a strategy for climate change adaptation, but to work towards institutionalizing agroforestry as a development strategy in the Philippines.

NEWS AND EVENTS	RSS

4th Philippine Agroforestry Congress Highlights Agroforestry's Role in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation The 4^th Philippine Agroforestry Congress was held on November 18-20, 2009 at the Chali Beach Resort and Conference Center in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Philippines with the theme “agroforestry promotion for climate change mitigation and adaptation: building lessons from the field”. This year’s Agroforestry Congress was convened to serve as a venue to promote sharing of experiences of various stakeholders in agroforestry technology development, promotion and adoption; intensify agroforestry promotion through agroforestry roadshow; and highlight the experiences of agroforestry practitioners/farmers in agroforestry farm development. [more...]

PAFERN Welcomes New Board Members The 5^th PAFERN General Assembly held on November 18, 2009 served as a venue to elect the new set of PAFERN Board Members for 2010-2011. Official representatives from each of the three PAFERN zones (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) elected their two representatives to the Board as follows: [more...]

Regional Training-Workshop on Scaling-Up Agroforestry Promotion Towards Mitigating Climate Change in Southeast Asia Concludes One of the major components of the Asia-Pacific Network (APN)-funded PAFERN Project entitled "Scaling-Up Agroforestry Promotion Towards Mitigating Climate Change in Southeast Asia" is a Regional-Training Workshop that is aimed at strengthening the knowledge and skills of junior agroforestry teaching staff in agroforestry, and climate change, and at the same time, develop information materials for instruction and promotion purposes. [more...]

PAFERN and UPLB-IAF Conduct Regional Training on Promoting Sustainable Upland Development in Southeast Asia (SUDSEA) Sixteen (16) teaching staff and development workers from the six member-countries of the Southeast Asian Network for Agroforestry Education (SEANAFE), namely: Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were convened in a Regional Training on SUDSEA. Held on September 28 to October 8, 2009 at the SEARCA Residence Hotel, UPLB, College, Laguna, the said regional training primarily aimed at enhancing the capacities of the trainers engaged in promoting sustainable upland development in Southeast Asia. [more...]

PAFERN Avails Fund Support from the Asia-Pacific Network (APN) for Global Change Research The PAFERN’s project proposal entitled “Scaling-Up Agroforestry Promotion Towards Climate Change Mitigation in Southeast Asia” was approved for funding by the APN under its CaPABLE Program. The project revolves around capacity-building, exchange/sharing of knowledge and technical expertise, and public awareness programs aimed at disseminating the potentials of agroforestry in mitigating climate change. [more...]

PAFERN Conducts Training-Workshop on Documentation and Assessment of Different Agroforestry Models in the Philippines PAFERN organized a two-day Training-Workshop on Documentation and Assessment of Different Agroforestry Models in the Philippines". Held on May 14-15, 2009 at the University of the Philippines Los Banos, this training-workshop aimed to: a) share the UPLB-IAF's experiences in conducting the documentation and assessment of agroforestry models; b) review and improve the data gathering guide; c) enhance knowledge and skills in conducting biodiversity assessment and carbon stock assessment; and, d) identify the potential agroforestry models for documentation by the participating faculty members. [more...]

PAFERN Holds Writeshop on Agroforestry Teaching Materials Development Sixteen (16) faculty members from 13 PAFERN member-institutions were convened in a writeshop on November 3-5, 2008 at the Aklan State University in Banga, Aklan. The writeshop aimed to develop agroforestry teaching materials of three major agroforestry courses, namely: Agroforestry Entrepreneurship, Soil and Water Conservation, and Agroforestry Ecology. This initiative is in line with the implementation of the new Policy, Standards and Guidelines (PSG) for BS Agroforestry. [more...]

PAFERN Organizes Multistakeholder Consultation on the Professionalization of Agroforestry Practice in the Philippines A Multistakeholder Consultation/Dialogue was organized by PAFERN on November 6, 2008 as a Special Session during the 2nd Visayas Agroforestry Congress. The consultation/dialogue aimed to ventilate issues on the Senate Bill No. 872 otherwise known as the Philippine Agroforestry Act, which calls for the professionalization of agroforestry practice in the Philippines. [more...]

DBP-Funded PAFERN Project Kicks-Off PAFERN was tapped by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to monitor and evaluate its DBP-Forest Projects for 15 months (July 2008 to September 2009). DBP has been financing the implementation of about 22 forest projects all over the Philippines. Through the project "Participatory Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation (PAME)", PAFERN will assess the progress of the overall project implementation, relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the different DBP-Forest Projects vis-a-vis their project goals and objectives. [more...]

PAFERN Conducts National Training on Agroforestry Landscape Analysis One of the project themes of the Southeast Asian Network for Agroforestry Education (SEANAFE)-Phase II is Agroforestry Landscape Analysis (AFLA). This project generally aims to: 1) review and understand principles on how agroforestry landscapes function; 2) identify and characterize key drivers behind landscape change and be able to use participatory tools and methods for studying agroforestry landscape dynamics; 3) strengthen the teaching of Landscape Agroforestry in universities and colleges in Southeast Asia by developing teaching materials, and; 4) enhance the teaching capacity in Landscape Agroforestry. [more...]

2nd World Congress on Agroforestry Slated in 2009 "Agroforestry -- The Future of Global Land Use" is the overall theme of the 2nd World Congress on Agroforestry to be held on August 23-28, 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya. The 2nd World Congress on Agroforestry will assess opportunities to leverage scientific agroforestry in promoting sustainable land use worldwide. It will serve as a forum for agroforestry researchers, educators, practitioners and policies from around the world to: a) share new research findings, lessons, experiences and ideas that will help influence decisions that impact on livelihoods and the global environment; b) explore new opportunities and cement existing partnerships in agroforestry research, education, training and development; and, c) form new networks and communities of practice, and nurture old ones. [more...]

4th Philippine Agroforestry Congress in 2009 The University of the Philippine Los Banos-Institute of Agroforestry (UPLB-IAF) and PAFERN are organizing the 4th Philippine Agroforestry Congress. With the theme "Agroforestry Promotion for Climate Change Adaptation: Building Lessons from the Field", this National Agroforestry Congress is slated on November 18-20, 2009, with the Misamis Oriental State College of Agriculture and Technology (MOSCAT) as the host-institution. [more...]

PAFERN Completes Documentation of Different Agroforestry Models in the Philippines PAFERN embarked on a six-month project "Characterization and Assessment of the Different Agroforestry Models in the Philippines". This study aimed to: a) analyze the economic and financial viability of the different agroforestry systems that are being practiced in selected areas in the Philippines; and, b) assess their impact on the environmental, biophysical and socioeconomic conditions of the farmers and the farming community. [more...]