Philippines: Poor farmers in Asia demand protection from leaders

Farmers and members of civil society organizations from various parts of the Southeast Asian region challenged leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to develop policies that are protective of the interest and welfare of the small farmers around the region.

The call came in the face of a growing trend of monoculture and corporate-led farming in the region which, they said, is only making farmers poorer, apart from the destruction that it leaves to the rural heritage and culture of agricultural communities.

This was the sentiment of the participants of the Asean Civil Society Conference held in Singapore first week of Nov—a gathering of nine national farmers organizations from eight countries from Southeast Asia and its dialogue partners.

The gathering was a parallel initiative to the coming Asean Business and Investment Summit of government leaders from Nov. 16-18 in Singapore.

“Even if agriculture remains to be a vital sector in most ASEAN economies, we, small men and women farmers and producers, who form the majority of the people dependent on agriculture, are still poor,” said Muhammad Nuruddin, executive committee member of the Asian Farmers Association and secretary general of the Aliansi Petani Indonesia, in a statement.

“Our poverty is mainly caused not by poor or weak trading, but by unequal distribution of resources , small subsistence farmers’ lack of access to economic opportunities and our poor participation in decision-making processes,” Nuruddin said.

These, he said, are defeated with the control of transnational corporations that prefer monoculture farming of export-oriented crops like Cavendish bananas, pineapples, oil palm, among others. The practice of monoculture agriculture is widely criticized for the destruction it leaves to the environment, health and safety of people, and the alleged circumvention by transnational companies of labor laws and defiance to fair trade.

Nuruddin said that poverty is noted to be highest and most widespread in the rural areas of country members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, evidently shown by women farmers who do 50 percent or more of the agricultural works in almost all crops.

“With less income in their pockets, there is less money for food, health, and education of the whole family,” Nuruddin said.

The current integration of agriculture in Asean-member countries, he said, has not benefited small men and women farmers. Only big agricultural business and transnational companies are reaping the agricultural benefits.

Agriculture continues to be a significant and sensitive sector in the economy of most Asean countries. Excluding Singapore and Brunei, the contribution of the sector to total domestic output ranged from 7.9 percent, in the case of Malaysia to as much as 50 percent in the case of Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Agriculture’s contribution to total employment ranged from 16 percent to 78 percent. Agriculture is still a vital source of livelihood and income for the population, especially in the rural areas, Nuruddin.

“Asean agriculture policies should contribute to poverty alleviation efforts, considering that agriculture is the main employer of most of its poor people. They should not lead to displacement and should not heighten existing vulnerability within the sector. Also, the policies should consider that agriculture plays a crucial role in meeting the food security needs of a country,” Nuruddin said.

Agriculture integration, he added, must be pursued in a manner that promotes “the well-being of all, with preferential option for the poor and marginalized. It should be equitable, inclusive, sustainable, rights-based, and eventually leads to empowerment of the poor.”

Nuruddin also said that they are now consolidating and strengthening their forces for them to be heard in the local and national levels as, he said, this is one way for them to keep up with the influence and power of their enemies.

“We may not be able to match the money of the big agribusiness corporations, but we can have the numbers. We can match, maybe even surpass their passion and dedication, but for us, dedication towards making trade fair and just, dedication to make agriculture still a viable and important livelihood,” he said.

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