INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD PROGRAM (IESLP)

RATIONALE

Promoting informal employment and sustainable livelihood among families and communities affected severely by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake of 15 October 2015 and those outside calamity areas has become a necessity to address current development problems in Bohol.

Before and after the natural calamity in Bohol, economic growth both at national and sub-national levels has not kept pace with the demand for jobs. In fact, the term “jobless growth” has become a by-word in the mass media while reporting achievements based on indicators of economic growth.

The formal economy has not been able to create jobs for the increasing number of young people joining the labor force from year to year. Employment in foreign countries, which gave rise to local remittance economies throughout the country, will be increasingly untenable due to political and social conflicts in countries which have provided employment to Filipinos over the past several decades.

Through a sustained and systematic promotion of IESL activities, the negative impact of jobless economic growth and the decrease of employment opportunities abroad can be

reduced. Unemployment and the resulting negative social impact brought about by prevalent poverty can be addressed.

As their vital contribution to rebuilding efforts in areas devastated by natural calamities, and to address a need to ensure job creation in a situation where economic growth cannot create jobs to match available labor force in formal employment, BLDF and its key partners need to demonstrate the vital role of IESL to enable families and communities to cope with social problems brought about by poverty, e.g. crimes, prevalent drug addiction among the youth, homelessness, to name a few. 

Based on the experience of small island economies, IESL promotion will result in a systematic support to the vital role of local community groups and individual households in food production and other sectors, and in activities to conserve, protect and enhance the environment.

Thus through IESL there will be a systematic support to local activities aimed at increasing family income and building both economic and social capital to address poverty and its attendant social ills.

OVERALL OBJECTIVE

The overall objective is to scale up current IESL activities at community and family levels to a point where they can impact more substantially to household income and thus to solving local problems.

As in most communities in the Philippines and other developing countries, IESL activities in Bohol can be categorized as follows:

1. Small-scale food production activities carried out as subsistence or traditional means of livelihood for home consumption and/or community-based traditional activities (fiestas, family reunions, etc.) done mostly by women’s groups and individuals, and informal and/or subsistence groups;

2. Marketing of food produce, such as rice, corn, fish, chickens,  pigs, goats, etc.  and handicraft products mostly from traditional family-based production;

3. Provision of services (all kinds of helpers, those in households, shops, small farms, fishing boats, etc., ambulant peddlers) and those  involved in specific activities carried out as unlicensed or unorganized commercial operations, which include the selling of barbecue, banana cue, buko juice and nuts; raising pigs; gathering coconuts; collecting and selling sea foods; production of vinegar at the backyard; weaving (bags, mats, hats, hand fans, etc,); selling of wet, dried and smoked fish; and all kinds of nuts, “dirty” ice cream, etc. 

Households and communities involved in these informal economic activities make decisions from day to day valued at millions of pesos which represent a major portion of the national economy and provide jobs and incomes to a significant number of households and local communities.

Hence, there is an urgent need to systematically support informal employment and small-scale livelihood initiatives at community and family levels to scale them up and integrate them eventually in the formal economy.

STRATEGY

A multi-level strategy is required to scale up efforts of current IESL activities at community and household levels.

Systematic efforts are needed to inventory such activities and find ways to support them in terms of:

• relevant policy measures;
• financial inputs;
• improvement of processes;
• sound linkage to markets; and
• better institutional arrangements.

These inputs will scale up production and market outreach and improve profitability and thus create greater impact on poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.

KEY ACTIVITIES

BLDF will select initial existing projects for scaling up in priority areas as part of advocacy efforts to engage local governments and CSOs in IESL promotion.

Through well-sustained information, training, action planning and actual field on-site activities, IESLP will demonstrate the entire process of providing support to informal employment and family/community livelihood projects.

The Project will involve local government units, government agencies and CSOs in the planning, implementation and monitoring of key activities required for each project.

A Fund Drive will be launched for program and administrative support to IESL promotion activities. 

MONITORING, REPORTING AND EVALUATION

A Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation system will be in place to ensure that information related to implementation is brought to the level (family, community, local government and support agencies) where it can be best acted upon.

Documentation of lessons will be outputs of evaluation activities undertaken to improve project design and implementation during the replication of similar family/community livelihood projects.

Regular progress and financial reports will be provided through an FP page specifically dedicated to the IESL Project.

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

A detailed project document will be produced as basis for implementation and monitoring of key activities. A Project Management Committee (PMC) directly accountable to the BLDF Board of Trustees will be formed.

At the initial stage, a member of PMC and the Board will be assigned to provide oversight functions to at least one project selected during the initial phase to ensure consistency of approach and prompt response to any problem that will be encountered during implementation.

INITIAL LIST OF PROJECTS RECOMMENDED FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Outputs of community consultations and meetings with LGUs, CSIs and relevant government agencies.

Projects listed for support under IESLP are the following:

1.      Lauis Marine Park (for submission to either ILO or DOLE)

2.      Mobile house builders project (Bood, Maribojoc)

3.      Barangay Bamboo Enterprise

4.      Cabog organic rice project

5.      Integrated Farming Project (c/o Berto Yaon)

6.      Pamilacan Eco-Tourism Project (c/o Emily Pedersen)

7.      Crossing Paradise Livelihood Center

8.      Banana Production and Processing Center (Bood, Maribojoc)

9.      Fishing cage project (Pangangan Island, Calape)

10.  Organic Piggery Project (Php 100,000; to be submitted to DOLE) – Rading Zarsuelo

11.  Beads – Island Crafts c/o Barangay Captain Jennie 

12.  Shell Craft Project (with 15 members – Irene Tayabas)

13.  Support to local sculpture and handicraft (Rexel de Asis; Baclayon, Bohol)

14.  Training on auto repairs (c/o Duce family and World Activity volunteer, Arno Djikstra, and Romulo Pasco)

15.  Bikes Tour Baclayon (c/o Dutch volunteer – Marit Meijer and Bhadz Liguid)

16.  Solar Power Project (under discussion with Victor Labad of Friendly Earth/Sun Asia)

17.  Peanut Growing Project for Angilan project site c/o Sensen Balala

NMP/26 Aug 2014

NOTE:

As of 09 March 2015, the projects implemented under the IESL Program are as follows:

1. Bikes for Rental Baclayon for ALS Baclayo
2. Youth Skills Training for ALS Baclayon
3. Livelihood Support Project for NDRC Bohol – training and demonstration phase
4. Making Idle Land Productive

BLDF will build on the partnership with DSWD forged during the Bohol Quake Assistance (BQA) shelter assistance project to establish engagement with the agency’s Sustainable Livelihood Program in the municipality of Tubigon, one of the seven targeted program coverage areas. Aside from Tubigon, SLP considers the following as priority municipalities (Loon, Inabanga, Buenavista, Getafe, Talibon and Trinidad)

NMP/10 March 2015/7.22 a.m.
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