COMPOSTELA VALLEY, Mindanao: Damage caused by Typhoon Bopha to agriculture in the Philippines has reached more than US$270 million.
Victims lost not just their homes, but also their livelihood.
In an instant, 60-year-old Aurelia Yray lost everything to Typhoon Bopha.
The storm also wiped out the banana plantation that serves as her family's main source of income.
"We do not have anymore livelihood. We lost our homes. How do we live? We rely on food donations for today. After this, we don't know what to do anymore. It should have been harvest time now, but we lost everything. We were relying on the banana plantation. This will be our saddest Christmas," she said.
Typhoon Boha dealt the biggest blow to the country's banana plantation. It left about 1,000 hectares of banana plantation in ruins which translates to about US$200 million in ruined harvest and damaged facilities.
Left with no home and livelihood, survivors of Typhoon Bopha are now coming to terms with its devastation.
Relief agencies like Mercy Relief are helping to address the immediate needs of survivors, like food, shelter, and clothing.
But there's also the bigger task of rebuilding the agriculture industry.
More than 40 percent of the country's banana industry is located in the provinces hardest hit by the typhoon.
Considering that the Philippines is the world's third largest exporter of bananas, the government is worried the country will not be able to fulfil its export orders.
Sahari Ani, Head of International Programme at Mercy Relief, said: "The step of recovery will be a long process. There are many issues for them that needs to be addressed. Besides addressing basic necessities like food and water, how to recover back from their livelihood?"
The agriculture department says it would take banana plantations at least 10 months to recover from the typhoon damage.
The government is now talking with banana growers from other provinces to help fulfil the demand of the Philippines' export markets.
- CNA/de
Philippines' agriculture sector suffers US$270m damage from typhoon
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Philippines' agriculture sector suffers US$270m damage from typhoon
