Intersecting Weather Variability and Chronic Food Poverty

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Despite the government's various poverty reduction and social protection programs, poverty remains a social problem the country needs to hurdle. This Policy Note aims to contribute to poverty studies in the Philippines by analyzing chronic food poverty and how it is affected by weather variability. Among others, it finds that chronic food poverty is higher for households that experience rainfall deviation than for similar households that do not. To address the adverse effect of sustained weather fluctuations, this study urges local government units to invest in the development of a climate-smart agriculture that fits the needs of the community. It also calls for the government to explore adaptive social protection initiatives that support propoor climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction by strengthening the resilience of vulnerable populations to shocks.