Who are the target beneficiaries of the project?

The Project will support local government units, coastal communities, and people’s organizations to sustainably manage their fishery and coastal resources and therefore generate livelihood benefits in the project areas.

Through the CRM component, FishCORAL will support LGUs in managing their municipal waters through forming and strengthening Bay Management Councils (BMCs), delineation of municipal waters, patrol boat support, and construction of bay management and multi-purpose buildings (BMMB) and climate resilient watch towers, among others.

For Liveilhood Development, coastal communities will benefit through organizational strengthening and business plan development while waiting for the spill-over efffect of the CRM component to the municipal waters. Local stakeholders are encouraged to form and/or strengthen People’s Organizations (POs) in the area to participate in diversified livelihood actvities through fishery sub-projects.

Livelihood sub-project beneficiaries are:

• Individual fishers or fishing households or groups who reside in the project area. (Note: existing and new fisherfolk POs registered to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),  Securities and Exhange Commission (SEC), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) to provide management, common facilities, consolidation, and marketing of products if deemed  necessary);
• POs/ groups or individuals are involved in resource conservation initiatives or practicing good coastal resource management;
• Open to investments—have the capacity to undertake business/ enterprise and willing to undergo capability building; and
• Registered with Fisherfolk Registration (FishR) system.

NOTE: All project beneficiaries (LGUs and POs) should be willing to provide local counterpart of contribution (10%) in cash or kind during project implementation.

What is the importance of women participation in project implementation?

Gender mainstreaming is of utmost importance to the FishCORAL project implementation. Since the fisheries sector is mainly a male-dominated  sector, gender mainstreaming should be embedded in all project activities. Thus, the 40-50% women participation in the POs is required. Existing and/or newly organized groups with less than 40-50% women members can still participate provided that they will open group membership to women along the way.

What are some of the livelihood sub-projects can FishCORAL support?

The FishCORAL Project encourages coastal communities, through the POs, to venture into alternative livelihood enterprises while waiting for the spill-over effect of the project CRM efforts. Here are some fishery-related livelihood eligible for FishCORAL support:

Aquasilviculture

Rehabilitation and/or establishment of the sub-project should not disturb the natural mangrove ecosystem. Aquasilviculture can be supplemented with mud crab culture, since crablets thrive in brackish waters.

Seaweed Farming

 This is a viable livelihood for the fisherfolks with its low capital yet high production. Saeweeds take a short time to be processed then sent to the market.

Mud Crab Fattening

Mud crab fattening can increase and/or even double the value of the commodity compaed to marketing lean or ‘empty’ adult crabs.

Mussel Culture

FishCORAL encourages the use of raft method instead of the stake method using bamboo stakes. The stake method may result in poor water circulation and method may result in poor water circulation and organic waste accumulation when bamboo stakes are left to rot in the culture area.

Lobster Culture

This is a viable venture for the coastal communities. Commercial lobster culture is popular these days since lobsters have a huge local and international market.

Fish Cages and Fish Pens Farming

These aquaculture enterprises not only augment the incomes of the fisherfolks but also encourage them to diversify instead of practicing captur fishing.

Other livelihood Sub-Projects

Sub-projects not listed here can still be eligible for FishCORAL support provided t that they are not included in the negative list. Such sub-project includes eco-tourism, among others.

What is the importance of cost-sharing in financing sub-projects?

The LGUs and the community plan an important role in the sustainability of sub-projects especially in the operatin and maintenance of the rural infrastructures. It is therefore essential that the local stakeholders be fully involved in all sub-project processes to develop their sense of ownership towards the sub-projects. Hence, a grant-equity mix of financing to rural infrastructure interventions is implemented to establish partnership among stakeholders and sustain project benefits.

What is a negative list and what are included in this list?

A negative list indicates what sub-projects are not qualified for FishCORAL Project support.

FishCORAL Negative List

• Social infrastructure (potable water supply, health stations, school buildings, multi-purpose buildings including government offices, etc.);
• Religious buildigs (churches, mosques, chapels, and other worship facilities);
• Purchase of land and expenditure requiring displacement of people;
• Purchase of fishing boats, commercial transport boat, fishing gears, fish aggregating devices and harmful chemicals;
• Use of mangrove and corals as building materials;
• Gasoline and other fuels products vending;
• Sub-project subject to illegal acts and practices of trade; and
• Purchase of weapons, ammunitions, and explosives.

What is community participation?

Community particiation is participation of local communities towards project sustainability. It also increases the communities’ sense of ownership. As Project Beneficiaries, the community can participate during the implementation of their proposed livelihood and rural infrastructure sub-projects by:

• Attending meetings and consultations during sub-project implementation;
• Assisting LGU technical staff in site identification and in the conduct of detailed survey works;
• Providing labor during construction;
• Engaging in Pakyaw or community contracts for simple infrastructure works;
• Assisting in monitoring activities;
• Assisting in maintaining peace and order within the vicinity of the area of the work;
• Operating and maintaining the completed facilities; and
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of O&M activities of the completed facilities.

Note: The Project also encourages the participation of the communities to be directly involved in the Project’s procurement activities through the Alternative Method of Procurement through the Community Participation as stated in the Government Procurement Act (RA 9184)by providing services (labor) and goods (e.g bamboos and other resources available in the community) required by a certain CRM or Livelihood project.

What are the eligibility criteriafor livelihood sub-projects?

All livelihood sub-projects should have the following characteristics to qualify for FishCORAL support:

• Will increase income of fishing households;
• Will not degrade the environment or deplete any resources (sustainable resource use) ;
• Will use technology suited to the technical capacity of the beneficiaries (aqua/marine-based, fishery related activities such as fish processing and non-fishery activities;
• Have clear or established market for the product/ services; and
• Will integrate the Good Aquaculture Practices (GaqP) or the Philippine National Standards (PNS) food safety practices.

What sub-project proposals should be prioritized?

• Feasibility of the livelihood enterprise in the community
• POs’ good record with past livelihood sub-projects
• Accessibility of basic business services in the area
• Involvement of the POs in resource conservation and.or
• POs with good coastal resources management practice

What are the considerations in selecting livelihood commodities for the sub-projects?

• Suitability of the commodity for the community
• Value-adding capacity
• Availability of local and international markets

What is a MOA?

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is a document defining specific roles and responsibilities between the collaborating parties. In the FishCORAL Project, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) executed a MOA with LGUs. Local chief executives signed the MOAs with BFAR indicating their support during FishCORAL project implementation.

Meanwhile, LGUs can also collaborate with national agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Social Welfare and Deveopment (DSWD), among others for technical assistance.

What are the roles of the LGUs in community livelihood enterprises?

LGUs through the Municipal/ City Agriculturist Office will create a Municipal/ City Project Management Office (M/CPMO) in Regions 5,8,13 and Municipal Project Implementing Unit (MPIU) in ARMM.

The M/CPMO and MPIU will assist the POs in planning sub-project proposals for inclusion in the municipal/ city plan and approval at the regional level. The established offices will ensure the implementation of the approved livelihood proposals. Moreover, they will coordinate with other municipalities and cities in the bay to implement project activities and monitor impelmentation and submit reports as required.

What processes are involved in livelihood sub-project implementation?

Target beneficiaries of the Livelihood Development component are individual fisherfolks, fishing households, and  fisherfolk organizations or POs.  

Accredited POs interested to partake on a livelihood venture will work closely with the designated Community Facilitator (CF) in the barangay, and the Local Government Unit (LGU) through the established Municipal/City Project Management Office (M/CPMO) in Regions 5, 8, and 13 or Municipal Project Implementing Unit (MPIU) in ARMM.

Potential beneficiaries will propose for a livelihood enterprise based on consultation, data gathering, and data analysis. This will be proceeded by writing of business plan with the help of the CF.

After submitting the business plan with other requirements to the M/CPMO or MPIU,  the plan will be evaluated based on an eligibility criteria. If the proposal is approved, subsequent funding will be provided for procurement of supplies and materials. Consistent monitoring will be conducted after the sub-project implementation. It should be noted that POs will most likely provide the management, common facilities, and consolidation and marketing of the sub-project products.    

The figure on the next page briefly enumerates the main steps in implementing sub-projects with corresponding preliminary activities.