Life Improvement Program (LIP) in the Philippines

A. Life Improvement Program (LIP) in the Philippines

Poverty reduction is one of the main goals of the Philippine government. Majority of the population lives in the rural areas and this population depends on agriculture as the main source of livelihood. In this scenario, Rural Life Improvement (LIP) approach can be an innovative approach to poverty reduction. The notable case of LIP approach in the Philippines is the Training Services Enhancement Project for Rural Life Improvement (TSEP-RLI) in the Province of Bohol. The project was jointly conducted by the Government of the Philippines thru Department of Agriculture (DA) – Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The target beneficiaries are farmers, fisher folk, women, youth and extension workers. The ATI- DA provides training services to the target beneficiaries as way to improve human resource development. The main components of the project are: improvement rural living condition, environment preservation and livelihood projects. The project utilized the idea of participatory development in order to achieve the goals for the target beneficiaries; local government units and other stakeholders were involved from project planning to implementation. According to Fermentira (2005) the project have positive impacts to the community such as: community mobilization and social participation, greater food sufficiency and stable price, increased income and employment generation, served as a model for other municipalities, and strengthened the partnership between the various stakeholders involved.

B. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Life Improvement Program approach?

1) Advantages

The advantages of the approach are that the target beneficiaries are empowered and their self-reliance is developed. According to experts, projects using participatory approach have higher success compared to top-down approach.

LIP approach is holistic in tackling poverty issues. It concerns income generating activities but also inculcate awareness of environmental protection to the people.

There is also cost-sharing and collaboration among the stakeholders in this way the responsibility and accountability for the success and failure of the project is shared among the stakeholders.

2) Disadvantages

One stumbling block to this approach is how to motivate the different stakeholders to cooperate in the project. For the project to be successful there should be a harmonious mix of government, aid agencies, target beneficiaries and other stakeholders.

The other main disadvantage in my point of view is the sustainability of these projects after the funding agency have concluded the project and it’s time to pull-out from the project area. If the target beneficiaries is not self-motivated enough and the trainings have not been internalize by the people to the point that it is really beneficial to them. Examples are cases of low level of participation by the project beneficiaries like attending meetings just to comply with the attendance and not really deeply involved in the discussion where one’s critical mind is opened-up.

References:

Case study of applied LIP approach/activities in the Philippines: the training services enhancement project for rural life improvement (TSEP-RLI) experience.

URL: http://www.eldis.org/static/DOC20320.htm

FEMENTIRA, Graciana B. Case Study of Applied LIP Approach/Activities in the Philippines The Training Services Enhancement Project for Rural Life Improvement (TSEP-RLI) Experience. Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) -VII - Central Visayas Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines.

URL:http://www.gdnet.org/pdf2/gdn_library/annual_conferences/sixth_annual_conference/fementira_paper.pdf

REYES, Celia M. and Lani E. Valencia. Poverty Reduction Strategy and Poverty Monitoring: Philippine Case Study. URL:http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPAME/Resources/Country-studies/philippines_povmonitoring_casestudy.pdf

Poverty Measurement in the Philippines

Poverty Measurement in the Philippines

Before international non-governmental organizations were established to reduce poverty or the Millennium Development Goals was formulated, and poverty subjects are taught in universities. Poverty is already a concern of Mallanaga Vātsyāyana, an Indian philosopher who lived in 4th century AD. He wrote in his book Kama Sutra that “poverty is not a virture. It is an obstacle, not only to pleasure but also to ethics and virtue. Morality is a luxury which very poor people can rarely afford.” This means poverty is a condition that limits your freedom. Where most people want to escape. And it has many dimensions. 

Poverty has different meaning to people. UNDP introduced the concept of human poverty. UNDP’s definition of poverty is not the sum total of well being; lack of income cannot be the sum of poverty. Human poverty does not focus on people do or do not have, but on what they can or cannot do (UNDP, 2000). According to World Bank (2006), poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. 

Extreme poverty was defined by World Bank as living on less than US$ (PPP) 1 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day. It has been estimated that in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day. The proportion of the developing world's population living in extreme economic poverty has fallen from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2001.

There is a principle that states that: what you cannot measure, you cannot manage. Therefore, to reduce poverty it has to be defined and measured using different indicators to capture its multidimensional facets. The indicators should include economic, social and political needs. These indicators should evolve to capture the changing concepts of poverty in changing times.

The most commonly used poverty measurement is measure of relative income. Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context. It is a set standard which is consistent over time and between countries. A relative measurement could be used to compare the total wealth of the poorest one-third of the population with the total wealth of richest 1% of the population. Gini coefficient is one of the several income inequality metrics. In many developed countries the official definition of poverty used for statistical purposes is based on relative income. As such many critics argue that poverty statistics measure inequality rather than material deprivation or hardship (Wikipedia). -Rico Buraga at http://emarketingconsult.com/blog/

Stop the African hunger games

Dear friends,

18 million people are desperate for food in Africa's drought-struck Sahel, but urgent appeals for help are being met with deafening silence by governments worldwide. Senegalese musician Baaba Maal has started a petition to get the US, Japan, France and Germany to pledge their fair share of aid. Let's join him -- sign the urgent petition below and sound the massive alarm needed to shake these leaders into action:

My name is Baaba Maal, and I'm a Senegalese musician writing with a personal plea for help. I live in Africa's drought-struck Sahel region where 18 million people are on the brink of disaster, including 1 million children at risk of starvation. But our urgent appeals for help are being met with deafening silence. Only a targeted and overwhelming demand for action can stop this catastrophe from turning deadly.

The UN says millions of lives could be destroyed unless $1.5 billion in aid is channeled in immediately, but governments have pledged less than half the required sum. The countries who can make all the difference are the US, Japan, France and Germany, but they're stalling -- that's why I started a petition on Avaaz's Community Petitions website to appeal to the world for help.

In days, world leaders will gather in Brussels to discuss the Sahel -- if they decide right there and then to pledge their fair share, we can avert disaster. Sign this urgent petition now -- Avaaz, Africans Act 4 Africa, and Oxfam will deliver it in a coordinated stunt when we reach 1 million signatures:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_grain_sacks_are_empty/?bVKqadb&v=15195

Terrible drought, political unrest, and sky high food prices have wreaked havoc on an area the size of the US, stretching from Senegal in the west all the way to Sudan in the east. People here are doing everything they can to survive, but the crisis has hit so hard that it's difficult to stay hopeful. I've seen women and children trying to grow food in patches of land that are bone dry. They know that people are talking about what is happening in the Sahel, but they don't know if aid will ever arrive.

The UN has only received 43 percent of the $1.5 billion needed -- it's a shortfall of gargantuan proportions. But this gap must be filled, and can be filled by the world's richest countries, if there's political will. We don't have much time to avert mass suffering, and I'm determined to speak on behalf of the people here until they get the help they need.

The world has turned a blind eye to crises like this before, but this time we can make the difference between life and death by forcing our governments to respond. Sign this urgent petition now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/The_grain_sacks_are_empty/?bVKqadb&v=15195

Avaaz members have come together time and time again to respond to natural disasters, saving thousands of lives by ensuring that crucial aid was delivered to Burma, Haiti, Somalia and Pakistan. We have the power to force our leaders to stop idling away in the face of a crisis we can prevent. Let's stand together now to demand that the world respond to the pleas of the millions living in the vast Sahel region.

With hope and determination,

Baaba Maal, with the Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

A distress call from Africa's Sahel: Millions might starve (CNN)
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/05/world/africa/sahel-hunger/index.html

UN: 18 Million in West Africa to Go Hungry in 2012 (The Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/un-18-million-west-africa-hungry-2012-142100935.html

Meeting of like minds can save the hungry millions in Sahel (Sydney Morning Herald)
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/meeting-of-like-minds-can-save-the-hungry-millions-in-sahel-20120529-1zgm8.html

Baaba Maal: people in the Sahel region need food and water now (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/may/25/baaba-maal-sahel-food-water

Coming weeks critical to tackle Sahel hunger – U.N. humanitarian chief (AlertNet)
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/coming-weeks-critical-to-tackle-sahel-hunger-un-humanitarian-chief