Philippines: Despite CARP, banana farm workers remain poor, according to study

After the tumultuous period and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was finally put in place, farm workers have remained poor, according to the study. “The long-term financial and economic viability of ARB [agrarian-reform beneficiary]-controlled plantations is shaky,” the study stressed.

This is because of the attrition costs for land amortization, added costs to inputs provided by landowners and investors, maintenance of labor standards, financial costs of legal battles and providential costs for ARB families dependent on the plantation.

Still to be accounted for are the costs of environmental protection, such as solid waste and wastewater management, and maintenance of water quality.

The study, which covered the banana plantations of Panabo and Kapalong in Davao del Norte and Mawab, Maco and Mabini in Compostela Valley, blamed the weak institutional framework for CARP when it came to commercial farms and the loopholes in the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) guidelines on land transfer.

Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley in Southern Philippines are two of the country’s biggest producers of Cavendish bananas—exported mostly to Japan. The two provinces produce a combined 2.2 million metric tons of Cavendish bananas, or about 80 percent of the national Cavendish output in 2006.

“The institutional framework for CARP coverage of commercial banana farms is weak and the DAR guidelines for land transfer and subsequent economic arrangements between farm workers, on one hand, former landowners and investors, on the other hand, are full of loopholes,” the study said.

Landowners and agribusiness firms, according to the study, used such loopholes in the DAR guidelines to strengthen their control of farm-level production which, if it is of any consolation, is why the country’s banana industry is still alive and kicking.

The study also found that only a few cooperatives and associations of farm workers gained full control of production and processing and traded freely in the domestic and export markets.

Such cooperatives of agrarian-reform beneficiaries, according to the study, came out better off than those that entered into long-term lease arrangements, voluntary land transfer or direct payment schemes.

Agrarian-reform beneficiaries, according the study, unfairly shouldered the other costs of transfers, such as overpriced inputs and advances for labor, while getting less from the fruits of the land as they had limited financial means to immediately acquire ownership of the land.

“Most lands under leaseback arrangements are even worse off in terms of reacquisition cost, where land values have escalated in proportion to the length of the lease, and final acquisition has become almost impossible within the human life time of individual ARBs,” the study revealed. The study noted that agrarian reform in commercial farms has long been and remains a contentious subject.

Landowners and agribusiness firms argue that it would undermine economies of scale, and that workers cannot effectively own, manage and operate commercial farms. They succeeded in convincing the government to cut a deal—a 10-year deferment that led to more conflicts.

Farm workers were replaced by those friendly to or favored by landowners, which paved the way for landlords and big corporations to take back control of the banana plantations when CARP was finally implemented in 1998.

Ideally, during the deferment period, farm workers would assume control and take care of the production, while the former landowners and big corporations would step back and focus on the processing and marketing.

“When CARP processes were finally in place, control of much of the banana plantations has shifted back to the landowners and agribusiness firms. Only a few cooperatives and associations of farm workers have assumed full control including freedom to process and freely trade in the export markets,” the study said.

Moreover, the 10-year deferment period landowners got led to the massive retrenchment of militant workers in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley. Workers friendly to or preferred by landowners replaced them.

“The retrenchment of farm workers has produced further conflicts, rather than a smoothening of the CARP environment,” the study said.

During the deferment period aberrations in the social justice aspect of the law became manifest, as illustrated by the rampant violations of human rights, execution of onerous contracts between landowners and ARB cooperatives, and displacement of legitimate claimants, the study stressed.

According to the study, although the deferment period offered a window of opportunity for CARP stakeholders to develop and modify their strategies, none converged into mutually acceptable and gainful compromises.

Worse, the study explained, second and third generation post-LTI (Land Transfer Initiatives) problems have also surfaced, with beneficiaries no longer claiming redress of grievances from landowners and agribusiness corporations.


Source: businessmirror.com.ph