IDIS Presentation FPE-RAC Assembly_2

8/7/2019 IDIS Presentation FPE-RAC Assembly_2

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Agribusiness Plantations

Changing MindanaosLandscape

Lia Jasmin M. Esquillo / IDIS / January 2011


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Outline

! Plantations Issues! Initiatives! Results! Challenges


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! Plantations are vast tracts of land devoted toone crop monocultures or monocrop farms.! Export-oriented -- targeting foreign market! Have been in Mindanao for decades! Late 90s to 2000, plantations started to

expand rapidly especially those devoted topineapples and cavendish banana

! Why? Because of growing internationaldemand and approach has become anational agenda (MTPDP)

! Agribusiness plantations run by large localand foreign corporations


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Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters

Association! AMS Group of Companies, Inc (Sorianos of Mindanao)! Sumifru Philippines (Japanese MNC)! ANFLO Group of Companies (Floirendos)! Alip River Development and Export Corporation! Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines (MNC)! La Frutera Incorporated (MNC)! Lapanday Foods Corporation (Lorenzos)! Hijo Resources Corporation! Diamond Farms Inc! Dizon Group of Companies (Dizons)! Marsman-Drysdale Group of Companies (MNC)! Nader and Ebrahim Hassan Philippines! Saranggani Agricultural Company Inc (Domiguez)! Nova Vista Management and Development Corporation! Dole Stanfilco (MNC)! Tristar Group of Banana Companies (Ayalas of Davao)


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! BASF!Bayer Cropscience

! Dow Agrosciences! Dupont! FMC! Monsanto! Syngenta! Sumitomo

Croplife pesticide

companies


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Common occurrence. Children on the way to school is sprayed by

pesticides.

Subasta, Davao City. June 2006. Photo by Dags Magaway


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Aerial

spraying is

just the tip

of theiceberg . . .

The bigger problemis corporate-led

plantation style

agricultural system

of monocropping


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! Environmental costs!Heavy pesticide use threatens

drinking water sources!Soil degradation!Soil erosion and sedimentation of

water

!Flashfloods!Loss of biodiversity!Climate change

Issues and Concerns


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! Health and food safety costs!Dr. Quijano study; DOH study!Food contamination pesticidefound in fish sample in Tugbok

! Food security costs!Massive conversion of actual and

potential food production areasespecially rice, corn, vegetablelands

Issues and Concerns


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Reduction of Rice Lands in

Region XI! Conversion of rice lands to Cavendish bananas. For the Davao Region, data

from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics show rice farms shrinking by 10,900hectares in 2 years from 108,374 hectares in 2007. Banana plantations onthe other hand ballooned to over 10,200 has over the same period to 78,700surging by 14%. Rice farm areas all over the region shrunk with the followingfigures:

BAS as cited by Aurelio A. Pena, p5in Sunstar Davao article 27 June 2008,

Area Reduction of Rice Lands

Davao City 37%

Davao del Norte 9% or 2,800 hectares converted to

banana plantations

Davao del Sur 8% or 2,300 hectares

Davao Oriental 8%

Compostela Valley 8%


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! Circumvents agrarian reform!Reversal of land access & control

under agrarian reform

!Enhances & facilitates corporatecontrol over the countrysagricultural and food productionsystems

! Labor issues!Labor contracting only widely

practiced in plantation areas

!Questionable contracts

Issues and Concerns


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! Policy issues!DENR Administrative Order

2003-30: fast tracking process ofECC issuance; plantations less than

100 hectares not required to secure

ECCs

!PGMA EO 807 lifting limit to areasplanted to banana plantations

Issues and Concerns


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Banana plantation in

18% steep slopes

Pineapple plantation in

upland areas of

watersheds: 500 m ASL

NO buffer zones, drainage

canals= FLASHFLOODS

Pesticide -laced

cellophanes littered inplantations near Saro River

Chemical spill from

plantation trucks

No buffer zone between

plantations and houses

Aerial spraying that exposes more

people and environment topesticide drift

Loss of biodiversity

Community

health affected


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IDIS and FPE! 2005 Action Grant -- Earth Day

Celebrations 2005: A Call for Watershed

Protection and Corporate SocialResponsibility

! 2006-2007 Action Research -- PesticideMonitoring in Key Watersheds in Davao

City

! 2010-2011 Endefense -- EnvironmentalDefense of Davao Citys UplandWatersheds and Local Communities

Against Agribusiness Plantation Practices


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Earth Day Celebrations 2005:

A Call for Watershed Protectionand Corporate Social

Responsibility

! Mindanao-wide Conference onAgribusiness Plantations Issues and

Alternatives

!

Earth Day Concert! Photo Exhibit at SM


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Groundwater

Extraction Zone

Groundwater

Recharge Zone

Station 1

Sitio Sicao,Tamayong (control

station)

Station 2

purok 4, Sping, Tamayong

Station 3

Talomo River,

Tamayong

Station 4

Saro Spring,Manuel Guianga

Station 5

Subasta Creek

Station 6

Tributary to

Wangan Creek

Station 8pur. Cawayan

Spring, Wines

Station 7

Junction of Wines-Gumalang Creek

Station 9,

Panigan River,Carmen

Station 10

Mio Creek

Tamobobong

Legend:

Panigan-Tamugan Watershed

Talomo WatershedLipadas Watershed

Panigan-Tamugan and Talomo-Lipadas Rivers

Banana Plantations

Pineapple Plantations

Davao City Water District Drilling Wells


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! 13 pesticides found chlorpyrifos, diazinon,fenitrothion, phenthoate, heptachlor,

mancozeb, paraquat, endrin, aldrin, dieldrin,

4,4 DDT, endosulfan, gamma chlordane! 7 of the 13 pesticides detected are banned

pesticides -- 4,4 DDT, endosulfan, endrin,

dieldrin, aldrin, heptachlor and gamma

chlordane

! 2 of the most commonly detected pesticidesin water -- chlorpyrifos and diazinon -- weredetected at levels higher than the US-EPA

and Canadian regulatory limit for freshwater.

Pesticide Monitoring in Key

Watersheds in Davao City


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2010 Updates

! Draft DENR AO on standards ofpesticides in water

! Ateneo de Davao has new state of theart laboratory on pesticides

Pesticide Monitoring in Key

Watersheds in Davao City


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1.! Enhance capacities of communities toaddress environmental defenseissues in the upland watersheds

2.! Pursue legal cases to protect uplandwatershed biodiversity and

communities

Endefense Program


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IDIS with other Partners

! Policy Advocacy and Lobby! Banning of aerial spraying LGU, RTC,

CA, SC, national campaign! Promoting alternative organic,

diversified farming

! Organic Agriculture laws at local andnational levels


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Results

! Contributed to exposing at the local andnational levels the ills of agribusiness

intensification and the bad corporate socialresponsibility practices of plantation

companies using the aerial spraying issue as a

handle;

! Helped highlight organic or ecologicalagriculture as the concrete and sustainablealternative to agribusiness intensification;

!

Created pressure for national government toact on the agri-business issues;

! Helped strengthen participatory policyformulation with the involvement of civil societygroups and marginalized sectors in policy

development;


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Challenges

! Strengthen affected communities --short term needs vs long termdevelopment

! Provide alternative sustainablelivelihoods to communities! Widen network of CSOs engaging

plantation issues


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Daghang

Salamat!

IDIS Presentation FPE-RAC Assembly_2

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