Scaling-Up Agroforestry Promotion Towards Climate Change Mitigation in Southeast Asia (June 2009 to June 2010)

This project was conceived by PAFERN to promote around capacity-building, sharing of technical expertise, and public awareness aimed at disseminating the potentials of agroforestry in mitigating climate change.  Being a regional collaboration, this project will certainly foster closer collaboration among the five country networks of SEANAFE, namely:  Indonesia Network for Agroforestry Education )INAFE), Lao Network for Agroforestry Education (LaoNAFE), Thailand Network for Agroforestry  Education (ThaiNAFE), Vietnam Network for Agroforestry Education (VNAFE), and the Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN).

Four major components highlight this project.  These include: a) formation of multisectoral taskforces that will work towards the institutionalization of agroforestry in the five countries; b) packaging of information materials about agroforestry thatwill be used in public awareness programs; c) Agroforestry Roadshow that will serve as an IEC campaign/advocacy program about the potentials of agroforestry; d) production and publication of a policy brief that will highlight the relevance of agroforestry in mitigating climate change in Southeast Asia.

This project is being funded by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) under its CAPaBLE Program.

Building Institutional Capacities on the Documentation and Assessment of Different Agroforestry Models in the Philippines (January to September 2009)

This SEANAFE-supported project was conceived to enhance the technical capacities of the PAFERN member-institutions in documenting and assessing the multifunctionality of different agroforestry models in their respective areas.  This project is an offshoot of the PAFERN \\\'s Special Project in 2008 entitled \\\"Characterization and Assessment of Different Agroforestry Models in the Philippines\\\" that was conducted by the UPLB Institute of Agroforestry.

This project will be highlighted by a National Training-Workshop aimed at sharing the experiences of the UPLB Institute of Agroforestry in the documentation and assessment of agroforestry models; enhancing knowledge and skills in biodiversity assessment and carbon stock assessment; and, identifying the potential agroforestry models that could be documented by the faculty member-training participants.

The participants of the National Training-Workshop are expected to conduct an actual documentation and assessment of the different agroforestry models in their respective areas from June to July 2009, with counterpart funding support from their institutions.


Participatory Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation (PAME) of DBP-Forest Projects (July 2008 to May 2009)

The Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) had been tapped by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to assess its nationwide Forest Program. The program is a long-term project that is in line with DBP’s vision of developing downstream industries in the rural areas. It supports and encourages the forestation of open areas in public lands by planting high-value trees. It also promotes the rehabilitation of coastal areas by cultivating mangroves and sea grasses.

The DBP-Forest Program is being implemented in 22 sites all over the Philippines together with local government units, nongovernment organizations, academic institutions, and people’s organizations. DBP saw the need to assess the progress of these projects to come up with corrective measures and improve overall project implementation. At the same time, they want to ensure the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the activities under the program.

On 21 July 2008, DBP and PAFERN signed a memorandum of agreement to carry out the nationwide assessment in 15 months. This collaboration was based on the ‘Participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation (PAME) of DBP-forest projects’ proposal submitted by PAFERN and UPLB-IAF.

Nine PAFERN member-institutions will be involved in the project. They will determine the current state of project implementation relative to the project goals, objectives and targets; and analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the overall project implementation. They will also measure the economic, social and environmental impacts of the projects to the various stakeholders, develop a framework and manual for participatory monitoring and evaluation of DBP’s forest projects, and provide a venue for enhancing the technical capabilities and developing partnerships among the local development organizations. More importantly, they will recommend specific measures on how to improve and sustain project implementation