Alternative citizenship through farming

Recommended reading!

Alternative citizenship through farming

FROM A DISTANCE By Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star) Updated October 16, 2010

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=621350&publicationSubCategoryId=64

I recently met up with my friend Clarita Lapuz of Mama Sita fame. I knew her from school days and again when I lived abroad and she visited to talk on Filipino food and demonstrate recipes using her different sauces and mixes. 

I looked askance at her and her advocacy as commercial, an advertisement for her company’s products when she organized food festivals among Filipino communities abroad. She held one at the Philippine Embassy in Brussels when my late husband, Alberto A. Pedrosa was ambassador.

That was the last I saw of her until a few days ago when I wanted her advice on planting peppers. I had been told that her husband Bart, an authority on development agriculture, was part of a group in Los Banos that was deep into research to find out the best varieties of plants to grow in the Philippines. They experimented with plants both from here and abroad to develop the best varieties with a mind on viability and cost. 

I attended the meeting at the Management Association of the Philippines sponsored by the Mama Sita Foundation. I was hooked. Here was a group doing things that receive little attention. There was so much more to know about what they do that can help and address the problem of poverty than listening to politicians. Moreover, they were not just talking — they were doing it.

For lunch they served chicken pastel with kamote and dessert was kamote cheesecake. Umm. (The humble kamote, by the way, is more nutritious than potatoes!)

I recently tried again to get in touch with her but was told she was abroad promoting kamote and will see me when she comes back in November and would I please come to their kamote festival?

Clarita taught me a lesson I wish to pass on to this column’s readers. We are focused on alternative governments but she taught me that there was the equally important alternative citizenship that she practices promoting food to feed our hungry poor.

* * *

Her devotion to farming and food should be supported and helped if we are serious about solving or at least alleviating poverty in our country. Indeed all the talk on strong economic growth, increased foreign reserves, a strong peso and investors from abroad must be complemented by what Clarita and her husband’s group in Los Banos — The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) do. It is a private-public partnership we seldom hear about even if we were daily television watchers or newspaper readers.

An unsolicited advice to the new President: we should spend more on food production because its effects are more real than GDPs. Here is an area for reform that he could put his teeth in. For a credible reform program he has to look beyond figures of economic ratings and do whatever it takes to bring economic equality. He must think outside the box and pay attention to the work of Clarita and Co.

* * *

Gabby Lopez, a former colleague at the Cultural Center and now with the Historical Commission, sent me an article from the Economist about agricultural success in another country. Many may not agree with the way it has achieved success but it is worthwhile reading how they did it.

“The country was Brazil. In the four decades since, it has become the first tropical agricultural giant and the first to challenge the dominance of the “big five” food exporters (America, Canada, Australia, Argentina and the European Union).

“Brazil’s farms are sustainable, too, thanks to abundant land and water. But they are many times the size even of American ones. Farmers buy inputs and sell crops on a scale that makes sense only if there are world markets for them. And they depend critically on new technology.

“Still, the basic ingredients of Brazil’s success — agricultural research, capital-intensive large farms, openness to trade and to new farming techniques — should work elsewhere.

“It also shows that change will not come about by itself. Four decades ago, the country faced a farm crisis and responded with decisive boldness. The world is facing a slow-motion food crisis now. It should learn from Brazil.”

* * *

But we also have lessons to impart to the world. Here is a story from the blog “Eating Asia” which should be read by more people. I have excerpted this to fit my space but read it in full from the blog.

“Long before Alice Waters introduced the concept of students growing their own food in Berkeley() kids were putting hoe to soil at schools in the Philippines.

“School farms in the island nation go back at least to World War II. Many were, and still are, born of necessity. Others are started not only to feed kids but to teach them life skills and engender a respect for farming.

“Didn’t know about this? I’m not surprised. We wouldn’t know about the Philippines’ own ‘edible schoolyards’ either had we not stumbled upon the farm at Victoriano de Castro Elementary School in Santa Rita, Pampanga province while on assignment there in December 2007 for Saveur magazine ().

“V. de Costa’s mini-farm occupies its entire courtyard. What a sight! And certainly not one we’re familiar with from the United States.

“At the time of our visit the school’s farming program had already been in existence almost 20 years.

Even though Pampanga is a largely agricultural province (rice and sugar are the main cash crops) ‘many of our children here at the school do not come from farming families,’ Ms. Yaya told me. ‘But we want to be sure that they learn to respect the land and the farmers who work so hard to grow our food.’

“The students do all the work on the farm, and take fresh produce home to their families as a reward

“The kids’ reward for all this hard work? A pleasant break from sedentary book work in the form of time spent outdoors engaged in physical activity. There is pride in literally seeing seeds that they’ve sown bear fruit and the freshest possible produce to take home to their families.”

We should have more of Victoriano de Castro schools. Indeed, every school, public or private should teach about farming. ()

World Bank says Philippine Agriculture policy keeps its people poor

MANILA, Philippines - Misguided farming policies, including land reform, are keeping millions in the Philippines poor, according to a report released by the World Bank this week.

The report said only the manufacturing and service sectors, which require huge capital and skilled workers, had grown significantly over the last decade while agriculture, which employs most of the non-skilled, faltered.

"These productivity trends reflect a growing scarcity of land and a progressive reduction in the amount of land per worker, aggravated by agrarian reform policies," the World Bank said.

The Philippines passed a land reform law in 1987 to break up large agricultural estates owned mostly by the ruling elite and give land to millions of farmhands.

Last year parliament extended the program by five years amid widespread landlord opposition, which has kept a number of big corporate farms intact, including one controlled by the family of President Benigno Aquino.

The World Bank urged the government, among others, to set up a commission to review its current agrarian reform policy so farm land is not tied up and can be used more freely as capital.

The government says one in three people in the country of 95 million are poor, with most living in rural areas. The farm sector employed 32.5 million people in April, the latest official data available.

Productivity among Philippine farms has stagnated over 30 years due to falling investment in public infrastructure such as irrigation, as well as reduced farm sizes owing to rapid population growth, the report said.

"This decline in farm size has been intensified by agrarian reforms that have negatively affected the functioning of land markets and made access to land more difficult for small-scale farmers," it added.

The report said other policies over the period brought only short-term relief to select groups though not necessarily the rural poor.

Efforts by the Philippines, now the world's largest rice importer, to grow all of its needs merely stifled the efficient allocation of resources and hindered families from earning incomes from other farm activities, it said.

Senator Angara launches "Oh My Gulay!"

We just hope Angara also bats for Organically grown vegetables!

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reports that protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies remain the leading nutritional problems in the Philippines.

The study outlines the increasing number of underweight and stunted children in the country, as well as the emerging problem of being chronically energy deficient.

Malnutrition in the Philippines may be attributed to a combination of different factors: health, physical, social, economic and others. The typical Filipino diet is low on most of the nutrients needed by the body to function properly.

In an apparent response to this, Senator Ed Angara has launched "Oh My Gulay", which is a campaign that seeks to create awareness among children about the nutritional value of common Filipino vegetables.

OMG’s solution to the nation’s problem of “hidden hunger” or micronutrient deficiency and malnutrition is very simple: Eating and growing vegetables is a powerful and cost-effective solution, encouraging our children to have healthy diets.

To accomplish this, OMG proposes the teaching of vegetable cultivation in elementary and high schools, vegetable gardening projects and the distribution of vegetable seeds and seedlings in schools and communities.

But, of course, vegetables are good and inexpensive sources of nutrients and proteins.  And while we are teaching them about the nutritive value of vegetables as well as vegetable farming, we might as well teach them about the value of farming without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

The problem with eating just any vegetable is that the benefits of the nutrients may be cancelled out by the toxins and chemicals that go along with chemically grown produce.

We support Angara's campaign and hope that, perhaps, he'll also enact legislation that will support organic farming.

P50 Billion deal for Food Supply Chain

This might be good news for Filipino farmers.

P50-Billion Food Supply Chain Deal Signed 

By MARVYN N. BENANING

October 4, 2010, 8:15pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Finance (DoF), and the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) on Monday launched a P50-billion food supply chain program to support the government’s campaign for food sufficiency and higher productivity.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, Finance Secretary and Landbank Chairman Cesar V. Purisima and Landbank President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gilda E. Pico signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the program at the Landbank Plaza.

Landbank has made available P50 billion to support the financial needs of various enterprises engaged in crop, livestock, and fishery production.

The Fund can be tapped for working capital and the acquisition of processing equipment and other fixed assets.

With these facilities, Landbank and its partners believe farmers and fishermen, along with animal breeders, can raise their yield and improve efficiency.

As conceived, the food supply chain program aims to raise farm incomes since the fund may be used to improve value added, with farmers improving the quality of their products.

Under the program, key players in the food system, from producers, processors, consolidators and other players may avail themselves of funds from the program.

The fund may also be used to strengthen farmers’ organizations and enable them to match the requirements of anchor firms.

Among the projects that will enjoy initial funding are integrated corn production and hog fattening, integrated broiler production and processing, banana production and export, oil palm production and palm oil refining and vegetable production.

For integrated corn production and hog fattening, the initial anchor processors and cooperatives involved are Biotech Farms, Inc., Marcela Farms, Inc. Sorosoro Development Coop, Limcoma Multi-Purpose Coop and Catmon Multi-Purpose Coop.

A total of P550 million will be invested in corn production and contract growing for hogs for the benefit of more than 3,000 corn farmers and 8,000 contract growers.

Anakciano, Inc. will be the anchor firm for integrated broiler production, with P242.5 million in the pipeline for broiler and corn production, which will involve 1,000 contract growers.

For banana production and export, a total of P940 million will be earmarked, with Sagrex Food Corp. and Fermon Corp. as anchor firms and exporters.

Agumil Phils., Inc. will serve as processor for oil palm production and palm oil refining.

No less than P1.5 billion is needed by more than 6,000 oil palm growers.

AgriNurture Phils., Inc., will be the main player in vegetable production for both the local and foreign markets. Vegetable production requires P20 million.

For fish production, only P45 million is required for local and overseas markets. Sta. Cruz Seafoods, General Tuna Corp./Century Pacific Group and APAMI are seen as possible anchor firms for the venture.

Modernizing Philippine Agriculture: Forever in the Piloting Stage?

Every so often, the Philippine Department of Agriculture will announce that some sort of new agricultural technology is currently in the piloting change.

Every now and then, the DA will announce that some new type of fish or some new certified seed or even some new revolutionary farming method is being tested.

Months after, you find the same news paper article and re-read the article.  You take a look at some of the farms around you and you ask around.  After a few minutes, you realize, none of these supposedly new and great developments in Philippine agriculture has reached your town.

Is it really organic food?

At my favorite market in Quezon City, I chanced upon a bunch of organically grown tomatoes and it raised my eyebrow.

From the look, smell, and feel of it, the bunch that I was inspecting didn't seem to be any different from another bunch of tomatoes just a few steps away.

So, I asked the seller of the supposedly organic tomatoes for proof.  She sliced one up and gave me a taste of her organically grown tomatoes.  After which, she asked me to taste another slice from a similar looking tomato which she swore was not organic.

Guess what? The tasted just about the same and I politely declined buying a kilo of the supposedly organic tomato.

You see, once organic food is placed on the market shelf, there is no way of really knowing whether it is really organically grown or not.

The best way to assure yourself that a tomato or what have you has been organically grown is perhaps to pick it yourself from a farm or a patch which you've personally watched from planting to harvest.  That is best way to know if the farmer used pesticides or fertilizer to grow the food.  Perhaps, if you know the grower better, you could even inspect the seeds that he used and find out if the seeds aren't genetically modified.

The next best thing you can do, perhaps, is to see if the purportedly organic food has some kind of certification on it -- granting that it is packaged in some way and that packaging has some kind of label which carries some sort of seal of assurance that IT IS in fact organically grown.

In the United States, they have what is called a US DA (Department of Agriculture) Organic seal.

In the Philippines, it might be difficult to find a similar certification or certifying authority.

What we do have is a Organic Farming Information Network (Phil-Organic).

The organic movement in the Philippines was initiated in the 1980s by a series of uncoordinated initiatives promoted by some NGOs. With no support by the government, for the rest of the 1980s a number of other projects emerged and introduced organic farming in the Philippines. Today there are many private companies and NGOs involved in the production of organic food. The Organic Producers and Traders Association (OPTA) was formed in 1995. The Organic Farming Information Network (Phil-Organic) is an information service that provides accessible data/information to various stakeholders in the organic farming industry. MASIPAG is a farmer-led network of people's organizations, non-government organizations and scientists working towards the sustainable use and management of biodiversity through farmers' control of genetic and biological resources, agricultural production and associated knowledge. The OCCP is an independent, private, membership-based, organic-standard setting and organic certification body. The PDAP is a national network of Philippine NGOs working on the promotion of rural enterprises for poverty reduction and as tool for peace building in conflict-affected areas and also active in the promotion of organic agriculture.

The next question is, who certifies the certifying authority? 

Why eating organically grown food is healthier

If you thought that simply eating fresh, unprocessed food means you are on a healthier diet -- THINK AGAIN.

Most farm produced food (vegetables, poultry, pork, and beef) contain a heavy mix of chemicals aimed at enhancing their growth, increasing their shelf life and making them resistant to pests.

It has been suggested that the trace amounts of chemicals found in farm produced food are the contribute to a number of health conditions -- which include obesity, certain types of cancer, growth problems, etcetera.

Some medical practitioners, dietitians, and food specialists in the US and EU have recommended avoiding farm produced foods completely and eating only organically grown food.

The US Environmental Protection Agency defines what organically grown food means:

"Organically grown" food is food grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. Pesticides derived from natural sources (e.g., biological pesticides) may also be used in producing organically grown food. Increasingly, some consumers are purchasing organically grown and processed foods as a way to reduce their exposure to synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

The Mayo Clinic also describes what organically grown food is:

The word "organic" refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weedkillers, organic farmers may conduct sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay.

Organically grown food, apart from being free of pesticides and fertilizers (growth enhancers), are also said to taste better than farm produced foods.

This may have more to do with its shorter shelf life which forces stores to re-stock with fresh produce more often.  Fresh unprocessed food always tastes better and is more nutritious than food that has been on the shelf for several days after being picked.

Zambo supports Organic Farming

Governor backs organic farming for Zambo peace
09/18/2010 | 12:23 PM

Aside from being an environmentally friendly policy, organic agriculture is turning out to be a key tool for peace in Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao.

Governor and former environment secretary Antonio Cerilles said people will not have time to think of “bad things" if they are not hungry.

“I am wondering why we don’t make use of the huge potential of agriculture in our efforts in enhancing the peace and order, and even in the promotion of the culture of peace, in our country," he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site.

He said the problem of peace and order, especially in the provinces, is rooted on the issue of productivity.

Zamboanga del Sur provincial agriculturist Marilyn Bersales added peace and order in the provinces “is basically an issue that is related to a full stomach."

“Agriculture is a big tool for peace. When a person is productive and [their] family always have something to eat; they can send their children to school and they are able to meet their most basic needs; I think peace will be achievable," she said.

Cerilles said local governments should harness the potential of agriculture in peace promotion.

“A productive person with the help of a very supportive local government will always think of the common good. A supportive local government will always have the support of the people because people will not want to destroy the gains. So in short, the best tool for peace in this country is agriculture since we are an agricultural country."

But he admitted this is not an easy task especially since “introducing something new, meaning a person has to abandon something a person practices for a long time, will always be challenged."

He recalled that when they introduced to the upland dwellers of the provinces the potential and huge market for cassava, no one believed them at first.

“No one believed us and no one wanted to plant cassava because, according to them, there was no ready and open market for cassava. They also claimed it will make the soil infertile for other crops," he said.

Yet, the Provincial Agriculture Office persisted until local farmers who tried it experienced success.

Zamboanga del Sur is now averaging a cassava harvest of more than five million kilos every six months.

“Now, there are no other boats that will dock in our city pier except the one that gets our cassava," Cerilles said.

With the help of food conglomerate San Miguel Corp., the province is now recognized as one of the Philippines’ leading producers of cassava chips, with a total income of P89 million in 2008 alone.

“Now, people in upland communities have money since they have income from their cassava. This is one reason our peace and order situation in the province has improved a lot," he said. — LBG, GMANews.TV