75% of Benguet Farmers Earn Less Due to Liberalization
Since the start of
vegetable importation in 2002, about three-fourths of Benguet farmers have
been incurring incomes barely enough to provide for their family’s needs.
BY LYN V. RAMO
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY (246 kilometers from
Manila) — Since the start of vegetable importation in 2002, about
three-fourths of Benguet farmers have been incurring incomes barely enough
to provide for their family’s needs.
Prof. Ruth
Sidchogan-Batani of the Tebtebba Foundation Research Desk presented her
paper on the impact of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) under the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in the Study Session on
Indigenous Women and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at the Pines View Hotel here.
She said that a study
among Benguet farmers before and after vegetable importation showed that
around 75% of them earn incomes that are not enough to support their
households.
Majority of the
respondents claimed that before July 2002 when vegetable importation was
not yet allowed, they were earning enough.
Batani also cited a
separate report from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)
which highlighted a negative 3 percent performance of semi-temperate
vegetables and fruits grown in Benguet and Mountain Province in 2002.
Her study showed that
prior to allowing vegetable importation in July 2002, only 4.76 percent of
vegetable farmers studied earned P5,000 to P10,000 ($92.34 to $184.67,
based on an exchange rate of P54.15 per U.S. dollar) monthly but earners
in this bracket rose to 47.61 percent after importation.
Before July 2002,
38.08 percent of respondents earned lower than P50,000 ($923.36). After
July 2002, 83.32% earned less than P50,000 ($923.36).
While 61.88 percent
of respondents earned more than P50,000 before July 2002, only 2.38
percent earned higher than P50,000 after July 2002.
Batani’s respondents
point to vegetable importation as the main reason for the substantial
decrease in income. She stressed, “The entry of the Philippines into the
globalization bandwagon, specifically in the Agreement on Agriculture in
1995 put the vegetable industry on a very weakened and uncertain
position.”
The Department of
Agriculture admitted that high-value crops like potatoes and cabbages will
have an uncertain future due to competition from imported produce.
Liberalization,
according to Batani, started to be felt in 2002 with the sudden drop in
prices of vegetables from Benguet and Mt. Province at a time when these
were supposed to command better prices.
“This (vegetable
importation) is a concrete expression of the negative effects of the
country’s entry into the World Trade Organization via the AoA,” Batani
stressed.
Similarly, Mila
Lingbawan, Apit Tako’s (Alliance of Peasants in the Cordillera Homeland)
deputy secretary-general, agreed with Batani that importation has
adversely influenced vegetable farmers. However, Lingbawan said that
the AoA is also manifested in the high price of agricultural inputs like
fertilizers and pesticides, as well as equipment and other farm
implements.
Lingbawan said that
because of import liberalization, there is no limit to the volume of
imported agricultural products entering our shores.
“Dati may
tariff duties ang mga imported goods, ngayon, libre na ang mga
itong pumasok,” (Before, the government collects tariff duties on all
imported goods, now these enter freely) Lingbawan explained.
Apit Tako Chairperson
Julian Gayumba, a farmer from Mankayan. Benguet, said that farmers in
Barangay (village) Bulalakaw dumped tons of lettuce in the second quarter
this year and utilized other farm produce as fertilizers because they
could not compete with very low farm gate prices of their produce.
During the strike at
Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation, Mankayan farmers supported the
striking workers by giving free vegetables.
“Maymayat ta
nakatulong kadagiti pamilya ti mangmangged ngem ti malungtot no saan ket
malugi pay iti linnakuan,” (It
is better to help the strikers’ families than for the vegetables to rot or
be sold at a losing price in the market) Gayumba said.
Meanwhile, some
farmers are trying to revert to organic farming in reaction to the
increasing cost of farm inputs. Apit Tako interviewed farmers on organic
farming and found that it takes at least three years for farmers to regain
soil fertility.
“Dakkel a
sakripisyo daytoy,” (This
entails a great sacrifice) a farmer said, adding that the yield may be
less in the first few years of the implementation. However, he is
optimistic that organic farming would be beneficial to both farmers and
the environment.
Batani’s research
covered three communities, namely Loo and Togtogyong in Buguias town, and
Paoay in Atok, all in Benguet .
Participants in the
study session on IP women and CEDAW included delegates from Cambodia,
India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam
and the Philippines. Northern Dispatch/Posted by Bulatlat
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