Typhoon Odette (Rai) Recovery Fund

Typhoon Odette (Rai) Recovery Fund

Mar 4, 2022 | Projects

Donate to the Long Term Recovery Fund

On Thursday, December 16th Category 5 Super Typhoon Odette (International name Rai) pummeled the Philippines primarily hitting the Visayas Region.

We are still waiting for word from all our partner farmers in Cebu Province. It has been three days of no contact so far. The damage to the province is extensive. We have heard from Harry and we are so glad he and the team at Arapal Farm in Northern Cebu are ok. Initial reports are showing total home loss, extensive structural damage, and it is likely all our partner farmers’ crops are destroyed. Water and food are going to be a long term concern and local reports are now saying communities hardest hit may be without electricity for months.

Today we are launching a Long Term Recovery Fund to support our partner farmers affected by Typhoon Odette and the future storms we know are coming our way.. We are painfully aware this typhoon will be followed by others, repeatedly putting our partner farmers’ lives and livelihoods at risk.. All funds raised will go directly to supporting them as they rise, rebuild their lives, and replant their crops again, and again, and again. Through the LTRF we will deliver the following:

Immediate Relief

  • Hygiene Kits
  • Solar Lights
  • Water Filters
  • Dry goods as requested and needed

Long-Term Recovery

  • Seeds will be shared with our farmers and partner NGOs also hard hit
  • Extensive Structural Repairs
  • Continued Seed Library Development and the Safety Back-Up of Regional Seeds
  • Farm Infrastructure Improvements Using More Secure Building Practices

After the immediate recovery efforts are complete, Global Seed Savers/Philippines will be on the ground to assist farmers as they rebuild their lives and revive farm production, which includes ensuring access to locally adapted seeds that can withstand and adapt to the realities of these intensifying storms.

We are grateful for any support you can provide and will continue to send updates as we hear more news from our partner farmers in Cebu!

-Global Donations can be made on this page
(This site processes Philippines Pesos, via card).

Donate to the Long Term Recovery Fund

Philippines Local Donations can me made to:

PH G-Cash via Karen Lee Hizola (Philippines Executive Director): 09275277370

Many Thanks,

Team GSS/P

ANG PAGTANOM UG BINHI | The Planting of Seed

ANG PAGTANOM UG BINHI | The Planting of Seed

Mar 3, 2022 | Food Sovereignty, Other Partners, Projects

Exploring the health implications of food sovereignty movements in the Philippines.

We are honored to have launched this collective project that has been many years in the making! The focus of this dynamic collaborative research project is to gather community stories of how connections to food, land, and seeds help individuals heal from historical trauma and build truly sovereign communities with strong health outcomes. Health in the broadest sense including: physical, mental, social, emotional, cultural, the health of the land, etc. 


Dr. Antonia Alvarez is a longtime friend and supporter of GSS and through her vision and leadership for this research, our collective work is underway. Guided by our local Design Team including Karen, our Philippines Executive Director, and Teresa the Executive Director of our partner NGO in Cebu CAFEi, we have been meeting for the last year to organize our vision for this work. Last month we launched the Community Advisory Board composed of 10 dynamic Filipino leaders in the food justice and seed sovereignty movement throughout the country. 

The CAB is made up of food advocates, NGO leaders, professors, doctors, indigenous people, and more. We will be conducting community interviews in the coming months and working with each of these partners to compile the interviews and stories unearthed. We look forward to sharing more as this project progresses. 

This collaboration with Global Seed Savers and CAFEi is a dream come true! For me, this project team centers on the ethic of community care, cultural healing/well-being, and food, which are three of my most beloved things! Each project partner brings with their deep commitment to the work, expertise related to food, health, and healing, and will help to make this project an amazing success. On a personal level, being able to do work back in my ancestral homelands of the Philippines with dear friends and colleagues is an incredibly moving, humbling experience, and especially as we are figuring out how to do this during the complicated times that we are in!

― Dr. Antonia Alvarez, Portland State University, Graduate School of Social Work