Due to the looming threat of El Niño and its projected impact on the agricultural sector, the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) is holding the National El Niño Forum on September 21, 2023.
With the theme, “Managing the Impacts of El Niño: Ensuring Food Security through Enhancing Agri-fisheries Sector Resilience,” the forum will be held in a hybrid set-up at the BSWM Lopez Convention Hall, Visayas Ave., Diliman, Quezon City and via Zoom video conference.
The activity aims to provide a venue for the government and private sector stakeholders to craft sound policy recommendations to help improve the provision of assistance to affected stakeholders in the agri-fisheries sector.
Joining the forum are members of the PCAF National Sectoral Committees, Regional Agricultural and Fishery Councils, representatives from the agencies, bureaus, and attached corporations of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the DA National El Niño Team (DA-NENT), other concerned national government agencies which have functions related to water, and those from the academe and research institutions.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) projects that the El Niño will be felt significantly from the last quarter of 2023 until the first quarter of 2024, with possible peak or moderate to strong El Niño from December 2023 to February 2024.
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), while drought is the main threat to food production, El Niño can also cause heavy rains, flooding or extremely hot or cold weather that may lead to animal disease outbreaks and widespread damage to crops.
Interested parties may join the National El Niño Forum by registering via QR code in the image above or through the following link: https://forms.gle/xaMNfNmLnqrKD4qb6.
For inquiries, please contact the Secretariat at pcaf.elninoforum@gmail.com.
PCAF is the policy-making arm of the DA that facilitates broad-based participatory development mechanisms and processes by conducting stakeholder consultations and participatory monitoring and tracking of DA programs and projects.
###
