Nanay Diocela amidst her family’s destroyed house and coconut farm.

On December 16, Super Typhoon Rai ("Odette") barreled through Caraga and Eastern Visayas with maximum sustained winds of 195 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 270 kph. After hitting Surigao, it made two landfalls in Southern Leyte before devastating Central Visayas.

The coconut industry in Eastern Visayas (Region 8) suffered more than PHP 614 million production loss (about USD 12.3 million) as Rai destroyed over 10 million trees in Leyte Island. The typhoon shattered the livelihoods of more than 82,370 coconut farmers in Southern Leyte and Leyte provinces.

One of them is the family of Diocela Estrada from Brgy. Sabang , Hinundayan, Southern Leyte. She and her husband produce copra from their own coconut farm as their main livelihood. Her husband also fishes in the open sea to complement their income and household food. Their son, on the other hand, works as a farm labourer in another coconut farm in an adjacent village.
Nanay (Mother) Diocela said that when Rai hit, she had to evacuate with her grandchild as her son was out working.

“It was terrifying,” she said. “Big waves were hitting the shoreline near where we live, so we had to evacuate for our safety. All the families that were evacuated by the police from our community stayed at the evacuation center overnight.”

However, nothing could have prepared Diocela for what she would see when they went back to their village the next morning.
“The destruction was just unbelievable,” she said teary-eyed.

“Our house was destroyed by downed coconut trees, huge stones thrown from the sea, and other debris. All our belongings were scattered, wet and covered in mud. Even our copra, which were ready to be sold, were submerged in water and mud,” she narrated.
“My only thought at that time was at least my family was safe. However, I also wondered if we would be able to recover from this devastation.”

She said that they soon started clearing the area around their house, cutting down damaged trees and other debris that may pose danger to them. They used some of the cut coconut wood to start repairing their house.

“At least I was able to save some of my flowers, as well as some of the chickens that we were raising for selling and for eggs for own consumption. This despite our animal pen also being destroyed,” she said lightheartedly as if to lessen the gloom of the situation. However, from 80 heads, her chickens are sadly down to just four.

“We have more than 50 coconut trees planted around our house from where we harvest coconuts to make into copra, which we sell as our main source of income. All those trees were totally destroyed, so we have nothing,” she added.
Diocela and her husband used to make about PHP 8,000 to PHP 10,000 (about USD 160 to 200) per month from selling copra before Super Typhoon Rai hit. Now it’s zero.

The farm gate price of copra currently stands at PHP 33 per kilo. This may not sound much, but for the thousands of coconut farmers affected by Rai, this is still a significant loss, especially if this is their only source of income.

For coconut farmers who lost their trees to Super Typhoon Rai, getting back on their feet would literally take years. According to the Philippine Coconut Authority, when grown from seed, traditional coconut varieties start producing fruit in 6 to 10 years, but will only reach peak production in about 15 to 20 years after planting.

“Our two small fishing boats were also destroyed,” continued Diocela. “Without them, my husband or my son cannot go out to sea to fish, so that at least we could have food and something to sell. At the same time, my son is also out of job because the coconut farm where he works as a labourer was also wiped out.”

“I really do not know what we will do,” she added with a heavy hint of desperation in her voice.

For now, to compensate for lost income, Diocela does laundry for a small fee. On the other hand, his husband and son does construction and repair jobs for other damaged houses.

To tide them over, Diocela’s family rely on aid given by relief organizations for their daily sustenance. Although grateful for the assistance that she has received from the government and other humanitarian entities, Diocela and others like her are aware that these are temporary.

Asked what she thinks needs to be done so that families like hers would be able to recover from this devastation, she replied, “I hope that the government and other agencies will be able to provide us  with the means to set up alternative livelihoods to secure our food, incomes and other needs in the long-term. These could be in the form of inputs, financial support, and capacity building.”

“As you can imagine, we cannot go back to coconut farming immediately as the trees only start bearing fruits after six years. While waiting for this to happen, how do we survive if we do not have alternative livelihoods?”

As she contemplates the future, Diocela is worried about where to get food and income for the family’s needs in the coming days and months, especially once the emergency aid dries up. This is a dilemma shared by the thousands of other farming and fishing families affected by Super Typhoon Rai, and one that needs immediate attention and response from all concerned stakeholders.

FAO's urgent call for assistance for smallholder producers affected by Super Typhoon Rai

As part of a general United Nations appeal, and working closely with the government, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations aims to support affected farmers and fishers by helping them re‑establish their livelihoods and improving their food security and nutrition through timely recovery and rehabilitation interventions. Such interventions will help vulnerable households avoid reliance on food assistance and reduce poverty. 

Read the appeal here: https://www.fao.org/emergencies/resources/documents/resources-detail/en/c/1470090/