Laguna, Philippines - The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) met with the Municipal Planning and Development Office (MPDO) and the Municipal Nutrition Office (MNO) of Los Baños on 12 July 2022 to discuss the project on coping strategies to ensure food security among urban households during Covid-19. The project is being implemented by SEARCA in the Philippines, with Los Baños, Laguna as the representative site. This project is in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Regional Center for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO-RECFON) and Regional Centre for Tropical Biology of SEAMEO (BIOTROP), which will be in charge of the study in two cities in Indonesia.
SEARCA-RTLD, student-interns met with Los Baños’ Planning and Development and Nutrition Offices to kick-off the food security study.
In Los Banos, SEARCA will attempt to enhance the understanding of the experiences of urban communities in coping with food security issues and concerns during the pandemic towards generating policy recommendations that will address them. Specifically, the status of food security, identify its key determinants, the range and most common coping strategies adopted, social aids sought and received, identify which components are most challenging among urban households, and generate policy recommendations on addressing food security during the COVID-19 pandemic will be determined.
Household interviews (HHI) will be administered in 10 barangays in Los Baños, Laguna, determined based on the consultations conducted with the MPDC and MNAO, from July 25 to 29, 2022. It will be undertaken by SEARCA’s Research and Thought Leadership Department led by Dr. Pedcris M. Orencio, SEARCA’s Program Head, and coordinated by Ms. Anna Gale C. Vallez and Ms. Donna Bae N. Malayang, Program Specialist and Program Associate, respectively. Student interns from the College of Economics and Management of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (CEM-UPLB) are involved in this project particularly in profiling the target barangays, undertaking the data collection, and analysis of survey results.