Posted December 1996
In terms of income and employment, the fisheries sector in the Philippines provides income and employment for approximately one million persons or about 5 % of the total labour force of the country. Out of the total population which depends on fisheries for their livelihood, 68% depend on small-scale fisheries while 26% depend on aquaculture and 6% on commercial fisheries.
The annual growth rates achieved by Philippine fisheries from 1984 to 1993 were, on the average, 3% in quantity and 12% in value. As result of this rapid growth, however, the maximum sustainable level of exploitation of aquatic resources has been reached, and today, in most parts of the Philippines, aquatic resources are fully exploited or even overexploited. It is commonly acknowledged, that population growth in fishing communities, through growth of the number of fishers and through increased demand, has certainly contributed to this high level of exploitation of aquatic resources.
In spite of the important economic role which small-scale fisherfolk play in the Philippines, they belong to the economically and socially disadvantaged groups in Philippine society. High population growth in fishing communities not only dilutes and absorbs the benefits which are derived from improved catching, culture and processing technologies and methods and as a result of increased demand of domestic and foreign consumers. High population growth in fishing communities also increases the pressure on already heavily exploited aquatic resources further to an extent which endangers their future use and moreover contributes to the further degradation of the coastal environment on which also the livelihood of other sections of the coastal population depend.
However, their social role and participation in decision making at the village and local administration level is rather limited. It was thought that through social organization, social awareness training, micro-enterprise development and access to institutional credit, women's social and economic role could be considerably enhanced as could be their awareness of the need to adopt family planning and family health care practices.
The formulation of the project document was preceded by interviews with women and men in coastal fishing villages about their needs and about their views on the objectives, features and institutional arrangements of a project in which would actively participate. The findings of the interviews were used to prepare project leads. These project leads were then discussed and elaborated on with members of the Population Commission of the Philippines and with staff of the UNFPA Country Office and further developed into a project document. The project document was approved by UNFPA in December 1989. The project became operational in February 1990 when the document was signed by the Population Commission of the Philippines, by the Provincial Governments of Capiz and Pangasinan as the implementing agencies and by FAO as the executing agency. The total UNFPA contribution for the 5-year project was US$507,000 including a revolving fund allocation of US$180,000, 90% of which was still available at the end of the project thanks to the satisfactory loan repayment rate.
The long-term objective of the project was to contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the National Development Plan through an integrated approach to improve the living conditions of small-scale fisherfolk with particular emphasis on women. The immediate objectives of the project were to:
Micro-enterprise development and credit support. With the objective to enhance the economic role of women and to increase their income, the project laid special emphasis on the development of fisheries and non-fisheries related micro- enterprises. As far as credit support for investments related to micro-enterprise development is concerned, the project managed to involve two local banks e.g. Landbank of the Philippines, a Government owned bank devoted to agricultural and rural development, and Allied Banking Corporation, a private commercial bank.
The banks used their own funds for lending to women participating in the project, while the project used its funds to guarantee loans to women which had no collateral of their own to offer. The involvement of local financial institutions ensured the sustainability and durability of the credit support, and credit operations also continued after the termination of the project. The participation of the two banks was regulated by a Memorandum of Agreement between the banks, the provincial governments and FAO.
Project consultants initially assisted the women's groups in preparing income generating projects and loan applications which were then screened by the Provincial Project Co- ordination Committee and sent for approval to the local bank branch. As far as the terms and conditions of loans are concerned, prevailing lending norms were applied to ensure sustainability and continuity of lending operations also after termination of project assistance. Most of the income generating activities and micro-enterprises undertaken by women and supported by credit were fishery related and included fish trading and processing, mussel and oysterculture, use of sea shells for manufacture of handicraft items, fishing with stationary fishing gear, etc. Non-fishery enterprises and activities included retail stores, tailoring, salt making , hog fattening, goat raising and similar activities.
While most of the micro-enterprises were undertaken on an individual basis, some economic activities were carried out jointly by several women. In all cases, however, loan applications were channelled through the women's groups which also organised technical and other training for its members.
As far as the volume of lending is concerned, approximately Pesos 10 million were disbursed as loans to about 2,000 women. The rate of loan recovery was about 80% when the project was terminated. Non-repayment of loans occurred mainly because of natural calamities e.g. cyclones and the outbreak of a vulcan which destroyed assets acquired with the help of a loan. Non-repayment also occurred as a result of diseases, such as the "red tide", which made produce such as mussels and oysters difficult to sell.
At the end of the project, 90 % of the loan guarantee fund of Pesos 4.8. million which had earned interest throughout the project, was still available for further use. Close supervision and support of the field workers of the project enabled the women participating in the project to generally manage their micro-enterprises well and to repay their loans.
The first step of the promotional campaigns consisted of goal setting by the field workers of the project and by newly formed family welfare committees with regard to motivation of members of women's groups and with regard to motivation of other sections of the fishing and local communities.
This was followed by refresher courses on family planning for project staff and field workers and by distribution of information materials on family planning, mother and child health, AIDS and on nutrition . Later on, a referral system for family planning was introduced which aimed at married couples of reproductive age, living in the localities and communities to which the members of the women's groups belonged.
Training workshops on mother and child health care, nutrition and family planning for members of the women's groups and for other interested members of the communities were organised at village level. Among other things, women's groups also started to play an active role in facilitating the supply of contraceptives and population IEC materials.
As far as the impact of the project on the awareness and knowledge of family planning practices is concerned, the percentage of the members of the women's groups who are sufficiently aware and knowledgeable, increased from 56% at the beginning of the project to 90% at its end. In the course of the project, the women's groups became active advocates of family planning in their respective communities and localities.
The project also led to a significant increase of women's income and of their share of the overall household income. As a result of the income generating activities introduced by the project, the average monthly income of the women participating in the project, more than tripled between 1990 and 1993.
Other project achievements include a better access to institutional credit and to social and health services as well as a greater participation of women in community and local political affairs. Among other things, several members of women's groups were selected as local Government officials.
As a result of their participation in the project, national institutions and organisations learnt how to participate in a joint effort to improve the socio-economic role of women in fishing communities and to promote the adoption of family planning. They also learnt to interact with each other in an efficient and complementary manner. After the termination of the project, at the end of 1994, the provincial governments and the various other institutions and agencies involved continued and even expanded the activities of the project to other geographical areas. Another major impact of the project on a national fisheries policy level can be seen by the fact that, for the first time in the Philippines, the recently held 2nd National Fisheries Workshop on Policy Planning and Industry Development adopted a separate strategic plan for population concerns in fishing communities. This new policy environment can be expected to favourably influence sustainability and replicability of project achievements elsewhere in the Philippines.
As far as sustainability and replicability of project achievements is concerned, the impact study carried out at the end of the project came to the conclusion that sustainability of project achievements will not only depend on the continued support of provincial governments but also on the continued commitment of the women's groups and their members themselves. The creation of group volunteers and the formation of a women's group federation in Capiz and the inclusion of former project activities in regular programmes of the concerned provincial government were seen by the study as viable means to sustain project achievements.
In the framework of the implementation of the strategic plans, adopted by the 2nd National Fisheries Workshop on Policy Planning and Industry Development, the activities presently undertaken by the women's groups and by the provincial governments are addressing two major constraints to the further development of women's socio-economic role which the project encountered during its last two years of operation viz. the lack of efficient community- based fisheries management measures and the lack of technical training opportunities and technologies for innovative fish processing and marketing.
Because of a lack of efficient fisheries management measures, the natural resource base of most of the women's economic activities in the field of fish marketing and processing is threatened. At the same time, marketing and processing of fish is still carried out using traditional methods and technologies while innovative marketing and processing methods which would make more efficient use of a scarce natural resource are presently hardly being used.
It is hoped, however, that these issues will be successfully addressed, and that in future, population issues in fishing communities will not only be integrated with the improvement of the socio-economic role of women in fishing communities, but also with the introduction of community-based management of aquatic resources and with a more efficient and beneficial utilisation of these resources.
 
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