Productivity and Livelihood Analysis of Selected Areas of Libon, Albay, Philippines

The study was undertaken to assess the productive capacity of the proposed Organic Agriculture-Based Social Enterprise (OABSE) program areas and generate livelihood management options. The methodological approach used was the Sustainable Livelihoods Analysis (SLA) Framework to assess the productive and livelihood capacity of the agricultural communities of Ponso, Sagrada Familia, Villa Petrona, Nogpo and Libtong in Libon, Albay. The SLA framework assesses productive capacity in terms of access of the farming households to livelihood assets such as social capital, human capital, financial capital, natural capital and physical capital. Rice farming is the most dominant livelihood pre-occupation in these agricultural communities. Access to social capital is high among the communities. It may seem advantageous as it facilitates resource sharing among households but it is largely internal and manifests low access to external support systems. Productivity is constrained as physical access to markets and financial sources are limited. Given the limits in physical access, majority of the poor cannot access financial capital to support farm operations. While the natural capital is fairly abundant, human capital is not enough to optimally utilize the natural capital. Sustainability rating for most of the barangays is fair, indicating that the current production systems are vulnerable to shocks and stresses. Among the barangays, Ponso demonstrated the highest sustainability rating due to a relatively higher level of productivity and social enterprise support. Libtong, on the other hand, had the lowest sustainability rating. In general, the study revealed that productive capacities as manifested by access to livelihood assets are directly related to sustainability. Sustainability patterns may exhibit a stable trend when accesses to livelihood assets are ensured.

Keywords – productivity, livelihood analysis, sustainability