Food Security Engagement Report
Food Security Engagement Report
ANNUAL
REPORT
Strengthening Engagement Programs
Systems Development 8
Training Development 28
Pilar Experience 31
GenSan Experience 38
Sarangani Experience 39
SPI-SFI Interface
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Accomplishments
EXECUTIVE NOTES
This year SEAOIL Foundation, Inc.'s (SFI) continuing journey in Food Security focuses
on systems that create arrangements on the ground that improves Food Access.
SFI’s journey in Food Security began in 2017 by studying the best practices of 25
and practice into an engagement program and worked with 10 LGUs on a year-to-
year development runway. We have had positive gains and short-term outcomes as
reported in previous annual reports. But we also saw that the strategy was not easily
scalable.
From our LGU experience, we saw that best practices are not easily scalable
because: 1. There are no structures in the barangays that operate agri-food security.
And because of this, 2. There are no clear handles in operating perspectives and
However, there are health structures and practices we can build on. The Philippine
Plan of Action for Nutrition has been present in communities and is well accepted
and understood. The knowledge and skills of assigned community workers are clear.
This can be very useful in further promoting Food Utility within the family. Our target
or priority families for our program was determined by the database of nutrition risk
families which is part of the scope of the PPAN. The data may sometimes be
City/Municipal Health Office. But the measures and outcomes for nutrition are
narrow perspective does not see the other complexities of food security that need
to be addressed.
Seaoil Foundation moves forward with the food security agenda having these in
mind.
In 2019, SFI started focusing solely on Food Security under the direction of the
board. We closed our other portfolios and began moving some of the depot
development relations into government relations functions. At the same time, as the
3
year ended, we also prepared to ground the co-owned agenda in Gensan to develop
municipalities and barangays as well. But during that year, we also decided to re-ground
the Sustainable Family Farm thru direct engagement in Pilar. The purpose of the re-
grounding then was to 1. Validate the Family Farm as a product or program that can be
digested at the family level. 2. At the same time pilot better metrics in developing Agri-
Food Security related measures that improve Food Access. 3. We wanted to shorten the
The direct implementation of the Family Farm in Pilar started November 2019 and covered
half the year of 2020 until June. As it happens, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and our
program was punctuated by this context. The crisis brought about by the pandemic
The Family Farm outcome from a 6-month engagement clearly contributed to the family
Food Security by providing better access. The details are enclosed in this report. The
family farm platform also has clear measures. The first is Income & Savings contribution
which strengthens the ownership of the family and improve the purchasing power. The
second is the HFIAS or Household Food Insecurity Access Score which is clearly aligned
with Food Security measures. As expected, the increase in Income & Savings contribution
paved for easy acceptance. This makes the program easily promoted. The COVID-19
context heightened the demand as our target families became food resilient in spite of
the lockdown which resulted to food supply and access disruptions. The HFIAS provide a
clear measure of hunger risk both to the family and the community. However, we need to
increase the appreciation of this measure with future engagements. The improved HFIAS
appreciation brings with it the capacity both for the family and the community to adopt
LGU.
a core product to engage the family and barangay towards developing perspectives and
building the capacity to address hunger and food security. The tools we crafted establish
ad-hoc arrangements that form a Food Security team/council that will move the agenda
on the ground. The tools we created also scope the knowledge and skills of the barangay
4
This year became a challenge for the team in terms of mobility. The strict travel
restrictions prevented from continuing our plans in Gensan to operate the Agri-Food
Security advocacy in barangays. But in spite of this, Gensan City continued to implement
initiatives the improve Food Availability. They also established other programs like
community gardens and cold storage facilities to pursue this. They expressed the need to
continue with our program and appreciate the partnership with SFI.
This report also frames our direction for 2021. Our visit to Pilar late this year to pilot the
orientation provided a glimpse of the demand and the tweaks we need to make. We also
anticipate the tools we need to further develop to improve the onboarding of the
community.
At the same time, we found out that we need to look at Food Security risk mitigation
capacity for the LGUs as well. At the onset, we expected food utilization and nutrition at
the family level would be a natural progression of the development initiative. But the
This year, we hope to develop tools at the LGU level to enable the Agri and Food Security
teams to scope commodity prices and flow within the communities. This capacity will
enable the local chief executives (LCEs) to be able to create short term policies and
We plan to expand our areas of coverage in line with the Seaoil Depot areas. But there is
also a need to be able to partner with other organizations to deploy the Food Security
We continue to sharpen the engagement plans this year as we work on the barangays we
have adopted. At the same time, we are also incubating instruments at the LGU level
that enable the leaders to address food availability within a short to medium term
resilience perspective.
As the Seaoil Foundation navigates this complex issue, we also hope to share much of
our knowledge in form of tools and instruments with a bias towards local governance.
This perspective remains consistent with SFI in prior years. Through this, we move to
create genuine and meaningful relationships with the leaders and communities we work
with.
JESS LORENZO
Executive Director
SEAOIL Foundation, Inc.
5
Agriculture Leadership
and Governance Program
Background and Overview
in the sector.
reducing poverty.
Farms as a program.
(MIMP).
6
Outcomes of these were LGU’s being able to generate a draft MIMP after the
validation, after which outputs were presented to their respective mayors in the
hopes that the LGU’s can include the MIMP in their Annual Investment Plans.
when the inclusion of MIMP to Annual Investment Plans was clearly presented by the
NAIS (Nutrition Agriculture Integrated System) of General Santos City which was also
In the latter part of 2019, the Family Farm Toolkit was refined by deepening social
In retrospect, the program was able to realize its vision and mission. The challenge
remains on how to translate these MIMP’s drafted by the LGU’s and to start
For that reason, in 2020, SFI revisited and reviewed its program goals, objectives,
and strategies on how it can convey its vision and mission at the barangay-level, now
SFI was able to identify four crucial pillars in establishing a barangay-led Agriculture
Leadership and Governance program; a need for family buy-in towards the family
level, community involvement and ideal environment setting, lastly, barangay local
pillars served as guides in refining its change model, scorecards, and road map. From
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Change Model
Emulated from its original 2016 AELGP Change Model, SFI identified the current and
preferred food security realities of these areas that we aim to achieve as an overall
community development goal. This refinement of goals led to a more fitting design
and focus, thus the Agriculture Leadership and Governance Program: Focus on
Achieving Food Security through Family Farm and Enterprise was brought about.
and community farms, and community markets that develop the role of the family and
The current reality in the barangays mainly reflects the existing structure, process, or
thinking that contribute to the food security problem. After identifying this reality, SFI
proceeded on targeting preferred reality that reflects the development goal of food
SYSTEMS
With the community development goal and this
scorecards.
targeted families.
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On the lowest part of the model are the sustainability indicators. These are certain
building blocks that lead to the program being handled sustainably after its duration.
Sustainability indicators are to be accomplished along with the present sets of KRAs
to maximize the ownership of the program by the key stakeholders. These are
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Stakeholder Mapping and Analysis
Based on the revisited strategic framing, community organization is critical in the
security issues, and generate among community members new ideas and initiatives.
The program team of SFI conducted several workshops and was able to identify
potential stakeholders. The team defined each stakeholder's interest in the issue,
resources they can provide, their contribution to the success of the program, and
structure. Moving forward this structure will be validated alongside the barangay
officials and community leaders to maximize their contribution and create regular
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Stakeholder Knowledge and Skills Identified
With the key stakeholders identified, it is important to target their specific knowledge
and skills, as well as their roles and functions to make them own the program and be
accountable to the overall impact of the change model. They are classified into
three groups: Barangay Food Security Council Team, Barangay Agri-Nutrition Team,
The Barangay Food Security Council Team consists of the barangay captain and
council members on agriculture and nutrition. As the leaders of their barangay and
Local Food Security Council, they serve as the main enabler and motivator of the
program. They are expected to align their current programs, plans, activities (PPAs),
The Barangay Agri-Nutrition Team includes Barangay Fisheries and Agriculture Worker
(BFAW), Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS), and Barangay Health Worker (BHW). They
agriculture and nutrition practices and provide data for targeting families (e.g.
barangay vicinity map, agriculture-fisherfolk and other related reports). They are also
expected to lead the targeting of families and conduct household baselining and
monitoring. In the long run, they will guide the families to create community dialogues
that will tackle feeding practices, food budgeting, and food management for
disaster preparedness.
Lastly, the targeted families are the key players who will undergo capacity building,
monitoring, and will participate in community dialogues. Being the main partners of
the program, they are expected to apply the knowledge and skills gained from the
series of training conducted by the barangay agri-nutrition team. Aside from that,
they are required to establish, maintain, and sustain their family farms to show self-
These knowledge and skills, and roles and functions of the key stakeholders are
baseline questionnaire.
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Team Learnings:
Stakeholder Engagement
their influence and interest on the problem and the program. As the primary
oriented well on the newly developed systems and tools of the program.
We assumed that the stakeholders already know the problem of hunger and
enabler to respond to the problem. We can achieve this not only through
priorities, capacities, and KSAs. From this, we can improve our baseline
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Hunger Causal Model
The Hunger Causal Model was developed sometime in the third to the
fourth quarter of 2020. It is the collated output derived from the workshop
given to the team. Participants were given choices of videos that they
Food secure families are those who have enough available food and
nutritional impact for every individual in the family. But if the opposite is
can affect how the person spends. And since there is a shortfall in the
beyond reach.
not always available and accessible, the family will settle for what they
can afford even if it does not contain nutritional value. A proper diet that
can feed the hungry stomachs in the family. As a negative result, it will
make them less productive with limited education opportunities for the
schoolchildren that will eventually give them low economic value when
As a consequence, since the family will resort to poor food quality and
all), they go hungry. In the long run, if not addressed, this will result in
Community Farm & Market for Food Availability, and Community Dialogue
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Tugon sa Gutom program will help the families provide access to nutritious
food within their reach at any time through Family Farm. The Family Farm
will teach the identified families to produce their own food that will, later
on, provide income and savings. The program will also help in making food
Gutom” will promote community dialogue that will include the involvement
Outcome Hunger
Feeding Practices
Food Budgeting Rolling Market
Sample
Family Farm Improved Disaster Community Markets
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Team Learnings:
Hunger Causal Model
Persistent poverty in the family resulted in hunger. Interventions and
the root cause of the issue. It is one of the reasons why the issue
are not well-grounded because they do not reflect the real issues at
wherein there is no one size fits all solution. More than the lack of food,
Knowing the context of hunger will also mean knowing the applicable
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Food accessibility responds to the lack of food source of the family. This is
where the Family Farm intervenes by providing not only food source but
also financial means to save up food budget. This part of the roadmap will
production, savings, and income gained from the family farm and; (b)
assessing their food quality and quantity through the Household Food
families to not only be aware but also practice being food secured. The
dialogues will root from their farming experience and centered on their
preparedness.
Food availability responds to create a more stable food supply chain for
the community. As the family farms are established, excess harvests will be
targeted at-risk families. Various vegetable products are also a source for
organizations.
With the roadmap established, sets of steps per parts were listed down to
certain KRAs are reached. The KRAs (e.g. barangay & family ownership,
community materials, etc.) are measured through specific steps which are
assessed using a scoring index for the performance. Red indicates null or
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Roadmap & Scorecard Development
developed. This was built based on the change model and hunger causal
were enumerated, this will serve as a monitoring and evaluation tool for
the program.
Nutrition Council’s KRAs. From here, the ownership of the barangay team
their programs, plans, and data regarding food security, agriculture, and
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ALGP LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE SCORECARD
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ALGP FOOD AVAILABILITY SCORECARD
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Improved Monitoring and Evaluation Questionnaire
tracking key stages and knowledge throughout the program. This helps to
Based on the developed roadmap and scorecard, and aligned with the
evaluation tools of the program was followed. The baselining tools were
the first to be modified since these are used at the start of grounding the
There are two types of baselining tools: Barangay Roadmap Baseline and
Household Baseline.
programs and plan regarding food security, agriculture, and nutrition. This
nutrition. This is rooted from the identified Knowledge and Skills of the
After conducting the interviews using these questionnaire, SFI will proceed
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ALGP BARANGAY ROADMAP BASELINE QUESTIONNAIRE
income, food budget, farming skills, and HFIAS. After conducting baseline
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Storification of Hunger
Hunger as defined in the humanitarian aid context is
easily understand.
easily understand.
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ALGP STORIFICATION OF HUNGER
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CONCEPTUAL TIMELINE
OF SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
October weeks 1-2
Change
Stakeholder
Mapping
November week 1
and Analysis
Hunger Causal
Model
November week 2
Roadmap &
Scorecard
November week 3
Development
Stakeholder
Knowledge
and Skills
Improved
December week 1
Monitoring and
Evaluation
Questionnaire
Storification
of Hunger
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Team Learnings:
Systems Development & Grounding
Two of the most beneficial tools for us are the roadmap and scorecard. These
provide a sense of direction when implementing the program. These are beneficial
not only to the internal team, but also to the external stakeholders (i.e. BLGUs and
Families); which is the main reason why the team took the rigor in developing it.
Complementary to those are the storified hunger and baselining tools. Storifying
their current realities. As this was simplified into infographics, community leaders
appreciated the ease of understanding the causes and effects of hunger. On the
other hand, the baselining tools go along with the roadmap and scorecard since
these serve as the standard measure for the progression of minute objectives
towards the desirable impact. Sharpening these tools for future deployment will
One of the risks identified in grounding was the limited mobilization due to the
pandemic protocols of the respective areas. The team is adapting to the new
normal while commencing systems grounding. We see webinars and other online
However, this does not apply to all due to limited telecommunication resources
Levelling off on the program is important to ensure stakeholders are on the same
page with SFI. With these risks, the team values community organizing being the
hand that works on the ground. With the travel restrictions due to the pandemic,
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Family Farm Training and Direct Implementation and Review
One of the interventions of SFI’s Tugon sa Gutom Program is the Family Farm. It aims
training, Family Farm Toolkit, providing farming inputs, and conducting monitoring.
establishing and sustaining their own home gardens or family farm. An agricultural
training for the selected families. The training takes 2-3 days, in which the lecturer
prepares classroom setup lessons and also hands-on activities. This will result in the
In November 2019, a pre-test of the training (together with the toolkit) was
Sorsogon. Lectures were arranged based on the monthly activities from the toolkit
After 6 months of monitoring and evaluation of the pre-test, it was concluded that a
refinement of training is needed. Notably, due to the current pandemic and limit in
TRAINING
From the current training outline, it was improved into 8 modules to have a more
establishing the farm, to maintaining, and sustaining it. Each module includes
agriculture so that the trainers can easily learn the lectures and transfer the
family farm modules also highlight sustainability. This is proven as a demand from the
farming. Unfortunately, the seeds from their LGU were limited at the moment. To
compensate, techniques on how to produce own seeds from the family farm were
added and emphasized on the modules. Photos and videos were also added for the
classroom setup lectures so that farmer-partners can easily visualize the lessons.
Diseases Management
Module 5 Pag-aani
Module 8 Pag-Monitor
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Family Farm Toolkit Improvement
Aside from the training, the 19 farmer-partners were also provided with Family Farm
together with Fennel Strategic Communications & Media Co., which serves as a
guide for families to establish and maintain the family farm. It consists of sustainable
farming practices and techniques, and monitoring sheets for six months. The
sustainable farming practices and techniques were aligned with the 7 Sustainable
Agriculture Principles which was developed by LOAMC, while the monitoring sheets
include the monthly savings and income from the family farm and the HFIAS.
The farmer-partners were monitored for six months to see if there are changes in
their food access through the family farm. During the monitoring and evaluation of
the pre-test, it was seen that there was a need for further improvements and
In the latter part of 2020, the toolkit was refined by deepening social indicators -
hunger, economic, and acceptability measures. Graphics and images were improved
to further give the farmer-partners more interest and visual guide in reading the
toolkit. Monitoring sheets were improved to highlight the important data which needs
to be fulfilled and monitored monthly. And lastly, the toolkit was translated to
Bicolano and Bisaya dialects for effective and empathic communication to the
farmer-partners.
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Pilar Pre-test Results
ILAR
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Significant outcomes were also observed. Baseline data revealed that prior to
food insecure - sacrifices food quality and sometimes cut-back on the quantity of
food; while the remaining 4 family farmers were classified as mildly food insecure -
worries about food and rarely with goes the quality of food.
After the first-cycle and community lockdown eased, 2 out of the 16 family farmers
were severely food insecure - cuts-back on the quality and quantity of food. This was
due to increased anxiety in accessing food during the lockdown, while the other
reason was the family farm was affected by bad weather conditions. 8 family
farmers remained moderately food insecure; 5 family farmers became mildly food
insecure as this was correlated to the availability of produce and food choices
increased. 1 family farmer reported to be food secure - did not experience worrying
about food, and did not limit quality and quantity of food. This was associated with
the family feeling that they have enough variety and amount of food despite the
conditions.
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Another critical outcome of the program
pandemic.
investment indicators.
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Social Return of Investment Framework
Due to the positive results of the Family Farm redeployment, SFI aligned its
Insecurity Access Scale) factors and quality of life (resiliency) were given
Farm Pilar experience was used as a baseline. The team listed all
enumerated.
34
On this account, SFI spends about Php 3,814 pesos per family; these
include capacity-building and family farm starter kits. After its first-
Php 768.12, hence in 5 months, these families were able to recover the
It was also noted that there have been observed improvements in their
families enrolled in the program are more likely to have greater access to
better food quality and quantity, making them more resilient to hunger.
By doing this, SFI was able to prepare a mid-term SROI plan, For the first
generate income, savings, and food accessibility. Towards the third and
fourth year, the focus is on well-being and food security. Finally, the fifth
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Grounding of Systems
Development in
Brgy. San Antonio-Sapa
SFI re-introduced the ALGP
level.
farms, establishing
governance were
highlighted.
36
Grounding of Training Development
in Calongay Elementary School
be conducted in 2021.
37
In 2019, a series of workshops were GenSan through its City Agriculturist Office
Sarangani Province. The first two workshops vegetable seeds to almost all of the
were the Results Mapping and Agri-Nutri families in the city for them to have access
Systems Grounding, wherein participants to food that was within their reach at any
identified their agriculture and nutrition given time, even in the middle of a
programs and interventions and align them pandemic. Currently, the Organic Trading
with food security addressing hunger and Post of CAO is now nearing its completion.
malnutrition. From there, the NAIS (Nutrition This will serve as the market of the organic
and Agriculture Integrated System) ng produce from the farmers including the
with the identification of the NAIS TWG Food Production Program, community
Situational Analysis Workshop to look into The implementation of the NAIS Program
the current city nutrition and agriculture was indeed a testimony of strong
situation then they designed a food-based leadership and governance between SFI
approach to mitigate hunger. This was then and GenSan. The grounding of Tugon sa
few of the targets of NAIS were the because of CoViD-19, but this will not
through the Central Kitchen and Organic hunger, malnutrition, and poverty through
2021.
GENSAN
League of Corporate Foundation Partnership
Through SFI, a Partners’ Forum was conducted last January 22, 2020 together with
initiatives addressing food insecurity and malnutrition in the context of agriculture for
the province of Sarangani. As presented by the Provincial Health Office during the
forum, in the 2018 OPT result, Sarangani Province ranked third in SOCCSKSARGEN
From there emanated the proposal submitted by Sarangani Province to the LCF in
the fourth quarter of 2020. The proposal was submitted by the Provincial Health
Office seeking support for the establishment of fruit and vegetable dehydration
facilities, particularly the machineries for dehydrating fruits and vegetables, Freeze
Aiming at improving food security through Family Farm and Enterprising, the project
is expected to alleviate food insecurities and increase income per capita of families
of malnourished children. The target municipality for pilots is in Alabel. Based on its
July 2020 OPT result with more than 80% completion, the total number of
malnourished children in Sarangani is 7,318 and the highest record is in Alabel having
2,534 undernourished children. Surplus vegetables from the family farms, and
harvests from the community farm and identified small-scale farmers will be supplied
to the facility. The vegetables will undergo post-harvest processes through the freeze
dryer and vacuum dryer. Products will be mainly used for school feedings, snack items
for LGU meetings and emergency response. Other market outlets would be the
The status as to the funding of LCF for the machineries is still undecided. But the
SARANGANI
Next Steps for 2021
For the year 2021, SFI initiatives will head towards Agriculture Leadership and
Governance Program with a Focus on Achieving Food Security through Family Farm
and Enterprise and Community Donations giving priority to SPI Depot Communities.
For this year ALGP will be divided into four enabling mechanisms:
the food security team who will be involved in the families in the
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ALGP at the LGU level will focus on how the
families.
41
A food security social enterprise was also considered for
Family Farm.
or will be contracted out since the SFI team will work more on coordination but with
minimal visibility.
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SPI-SFI INTERFACE
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
SEAOIL Foundation Inc., is the corporate
by our stakeholders.
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Taal Volcano Eruption Response
44
COVID-19 Response
Sales team.
alleviate COVID-19.
45
Disaster Response
46
Christmas Baskets
As part of the launching of the Tugon sa Gutom
season.
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48
22nd Floor, The Taipan Place, F. Ortigas Road,
(632) 379-1010
foundation@[Link]
[Link]/seaoilfoundation