Food Sovereignty and Sustainability: A Case Study

of the Philippines
La Via Campesina, a small farmer advocacy group, introduced the concept of food sovereignty in
reaction to the food inequities and environmental degradation brought on by the predominant
neoliberal western-style of the global food system. This paper critiques the concept of food sovereignty
as a universal solution to this problem. Given that each country has unique political, environmental, and
cultural challenges, the underlying logic of this study is to understand "why." By using the Philippines as
a case study this research provides a systematic approach to evaluating the merits of food sovereignty. I
argue that maintaining national food sovereignty is not agriculturally sustainable given the country's
unique challenges, such as being geographically small, archipelagic, and disaster-prone. In addition, the
Philippine government's decision to implement a national Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP) in
2011, as a food sovereignty resolution, is vulnerable to population growth, increasing urbanization,
geographic constraints and natural disasters. With that said, FSSP will have adverse impacts on the
country's ability to keep up with growing agricultural demands. Currently, the country is 97 percent rice
self-sufficient due to the implementation of the Food Staples Sufficiency Program. Eventually, due to the
country's unique challenges and vulnerabilities it will have to depend on food imports and the
international trade market, but what could Philippines do to mitigate adverse impacts of food
dependency?

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Professor Bartlett and Lindsay Arentz for everything they put
into creating a memorable MAIS program. Every class was suitable to my goals and I
never felt drowned in administrative tasks because of their support. I would also like to
thank Professor Loperena whose guidance throughout this Master’s program helped me
grow and most importantly gave me the tools to help shed light on the injustices of this
world. Finally, I would also like to thank and acknowledge my thesis advisor, Professor
Ziegler, for constructive critiques, attention to detail, recommendations, and insights on
food security and food sovereignty. This thesis would not have been possible without
your brilliance, undivided attention, and support.
Next, I would like to thank the scientists, engineers, and people of NASA, the
SETI Institute, ASP, and DLR, especially those people in the SOFIA program and the
Planetary Sustainability office. You showed me what it meant to be passionate and
fearless (where fearless is an euphemism for a little insane), ingredients needed to
plunge
into the vastness of space in order to reach for the stars.
Finally, I would like to send a heartfelt thanks to my friends and family for all of
their love and support. First, I would like to thank: Maritess, Gigi, Christel, Jonilynn,
Cristina, Nora, Sarah, Sila, Malai, and Mama Leona for showing me how to reach for
the
stars, while keeping my feet on the ground. To my parents, Helen and Donato, thank
you
for blessing me with a life filled with unconditional love, support and teaching us to
always help others and recycle. To my siblings, Leonie and Daniel, you are everything
to
me. You are truly the greatest presents Mom and Dad have ever given me.
To my husband! I cannot thank you enough for the numerous ways you have been
supportive, especially in those moments when I just wanted to give up. You were there
to
wipe away the stress and tears, and to buy the much-needed coffee. I look forward to
writing the next chapter in our lives, when we are both finished with our degrees!
To my grandfather who called all of his grandchildren #1, for which I thrived to
be his number 1, you taught me the most valuable life lesson – everyone is #1 and
deserved to be loved.

Terms and Concepts

Agrarian Transition: men tend to exit first from agriculture, resulting in a growing
feminization of agriculture – as measured by the ratio of women and men working in the
sector. A second indicator of the gendered nature of the agrarian transition is reflected
in
the high proportion of women whose main employment is in agriculture. (FAO, 2013)
Agroecology: is an applied science, adapting ecological concepts and principles to the
design and management of sustainable agroecosystems and providing a framework for
assessing the performance of agroecosystems. (Altieri, 2005)
Big Food Actors: refers to the top ten multinational food and beverage corporations that
control more than half of all food sales (Stuckler, Nestle, 2012).
Climate Change: refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by
changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an
extended period, typically decades or longer. (IPCC, 2014)
Food Miles: the distance food travels from where it is grown to where it is ultimately
purchased or consumed. (NRDC, 2007)
Food Security: exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food and food preferences to meet their dietary
needs for an active and healthy life. (FAO, 2003)
• Availability is when sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality,
supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid).
• Access is by individuals to adequate resources for acquiring appropriate foods
for a nutritious diet.
• Utilization is of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health
care to reach a state of nutritional wellbeing where all physiological needs are
met. This brings out the importance of non-food inputs in food security.
• Stability is to be food secure, a population, household or individual must have
access to adequate food at all times, and should not risk losing access to food
as a consequence of sudden shocks (e.g. an economic or climatic crisis) or
cyclical events (e.g. seasonal food insecurity).
Food Sovereignty: the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food
produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define
their own food and agriculture systems. (La Via Campesina 1990, Nyéléni Forum in
2007)
Global Hunger Index: to reflect the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI
combines three equally weighted indicators into one index:
• Undernourishment: the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage
of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient
caloric intake).
• Child underweight: the proportion of children younger than age five who are
underweight (low weight for age reflecting wasting, stunted growth, or both),
which is one indicator of child undernutrition.
• Child mortality: the mortality rate of children younger than age five
(partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate dietary intake and
unhealthy environments). (IFPRI, 2013)
Green Revolution: the first investments in research on rice and wheat, two of the most
important food crops for developing countries. The breeding of improved varieties,
combined with the expanded use of fertilizers, other chemical inputs and irrigation, led
to
dramatic yield increases in Asia and Latin America, beginning in the late 1960s. In
1968,
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator William S. Gaud
coined the term “Green Revolution” to describe this phenomenal growth in agriculture.
(IFPRI, 2002)
Malnutrition: an abnormal physiological condition caused by inadequate, unbalanced or
excessive consumption of macronutrients and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition includes
undernutrition and overnutrition as well as micronutrient deficiencies. (FAO, 2014)
Millennium Development Goal Target One: the United Nations gathered in 2000 for
the Millennium Summit to adopt eight international developments goals. The goal of
target one is to eradicate hunger and poverty, by halving the proportion of people who
suffer from hunger and whose income is less than $1.25 a day between 1990 and 2015.
(UN, 2000)
Multilateralism: an adjective that modifies the noun institution; it coordinates behavior
among three or more states on the basis of generalized principles of conduct. These
principles are: nondiscrimination, indivisibility (a social construction – states behave as
though peace, for example, is indivisible and thereby make it so), and diffuse reciprocity
(the arrangements yields a rough equivalence of benefits in the aggregate and over
time).
an international market-oriented economy where they have to compete with heavily
subsidized multinational food corporations. This dilemma is an exemplar of the lack of
national food sovereignty within the Philippines.
La Via Campesina is a transnational agrarian movement of peasant and small-
scale farmers from 73 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe with the goal of
counteracting the WTO and multinational food corporations by empowering farmers and
state governments.
 Kakapusan at Kakulangan: Mga Problemang Pang
Ekonomiya ng Bansa

Ano nga ba ang kakapusan at kakulangan?

Kahit saang panig ng mundo ay mayroong mga isyu patungkol sa kakapusan at
kakulangan. Ito ay isang malawak na suliranin na walang pinipili at lahat ay
nararanasan. Patungkol sa usaping pang-ekonomiya, lahat ng bansa ay nahaharap sa
problemang may kinalaman sa kalagayan ng mga pinagkukunang-yaman. Gayundin
naman ang kakayahan upang matugunan ang hindi mabilang na mga pangangailangan
ng mga tao. Ang pangunahing isyu ng kakapusan ay ang katotohanang walang
kakayahan ang kahit na anong bansa na matustusan ang mga pangangailangan ng
ekonomiya bilang kabuuan.

Kakapusan (scarcity) – ito ay isang uri ng suliranin na tumutukoy sa pagkakaroon ng

limitasyon sa mga pinagkukunan ng yaman na siyang ginagamit sa paggawa o paglikha
ng mga serbisyo at produkto. Ito ay isang uri ng kalagayan kung saan kaakibat ng
buhay ng tao na nagpapakita ng pagtutunggalian sa paggamit ng yaman ng bansa
bilang sagot sa mga pangangailangan ng lipunan. Ito ay palagiang problema ng tao at
lipunan na hindi madaling lutasin. Ang suliranin sa kakapusan ay ang pangunahing
sanhi ng pagkakaroon ng mga problemang pang-ekonomiya.

Umiiral sa dalawang bagay:

 Pisikal na estado – limitado ang pinagkukunang-yaman

 Pangkaisipang kalagayan – walang katapusang kagustuhan at pangangailangan ng tao.

Dahil sa isyu ng kakapusan, napakahalaga na magkaroon ng malalimang pag-aaral o

mahalaga na pag-isipan ng bansa kung anong serbisyo at produkto ang gagawin at
kung gaano ito karami. Gayundin, mahalagang malaman kung para kanino ito at kung
paani ito maipapamahagi.
 Mga suliraning pang-produksyon
 Ano ang gagawin? – mahalagang mabatid ang mga serbisyo at produkto sa isang
ekonomiya. Sadyang mahalagang malaman ang mga pangangailangan ng bawat tao
na may kaukulang pagbibigay ng halaga.

 Paano ito gagawin? – sa paglikha ng mga produkto at serbisyo, ito ay may proseso n
sinusunod. Isinasaalang-alang rito ang mga bagay na gagamitin sa pagbubuo ng mga
produkto.

 Gaano karami ang gagawin? – ang dami ng produktong gagawin ay pagbibigay ng

halaga sa yaman ng bansa gayundin ang bilang ng mga mamamayan na siyang
direktang makikinabang. Sa pagkakataong makagawa ng produkto ang ekonomiya,
marapat lamang na ito’y maipamahagi sa mga mamamayan.

Mga suliraning pang-distribusyon

 Para kanino ang gagawin? – binibigyang pansin ang mga mamamayan na siyang
gagamit at makikinabang sa mga gagawing produkto upang mas maging epektibo ang
pamamahagi ng mga produkto.

 Paano maipapamahagi ang mga produkto? – ang isa sa mga layuning tinitignan ng
pamahalaan ay ang maging epektibo sa pamamahagi ng mga produktong nagawa kung
kaya’t ito ay isinasagawa ng may iba’t-ibang paraan upang makarating sa mga
nangangailangan ang mga produktong nalikha. Ang mga mekanismo na makakatulong
ng lubos sa pamamahagi ng mga produkto ay ang kalakalang lokal at mga pamilihan.

Ang mga katanungang ito ay makakatulong upang mabigyan ng pansin ang mga
kakapusan na dinaranas ng isang bansa. Ang bawat bansa ay may mga layunin
pagdating sa pangkabuhayan na nais mabigyan ng katuparan na kayang gawin ang
lahat upang ito ay masolusyunan lamang.

Mga palatandaan ng kakapusan

 Kapag ang mga produkto ay may mataas na halaga o presyo gayundin naman ang iba
pang mga pangunahing mga pangangailangan.

 Mayroong pera ngunit wala nang mabili.

 Kapag marami na ang nagkakasakit dahil sa gutom.

 Kapag ang isang bansa ay nagpupumilit paring mag-angkat ng mga produkto kahit na
sa totoo ay naghihirap na ito.

Kakulangan (shortage) – ito ay ang panandaliang kawalan o hindi kasapatan ng mga

pangangailangan. Malaki ang tyansa na ito ay gawa lamang ng tao. Ito ay kadalasang
umiiral sa tuwing may pansamantalang pagkukulang ng suplay ng isang produkto o
serbisyo. Sa isang ekonomiya, madalas na nangyayari ang pagkakaroon ng artipisyal
na kakulangan. Kapag naisaayos na ang suplay, nawawala na awtomatiko ang
kakulangan. Sa madaling salita, mas madali itong masolusyunan kumpara sa
kakapusan. Halimbawa:

 Hoarding – ito ay kung saan itinatago ng mga negosyante upang hintayin ang pagtaas
ng presyo kung saan sila ay lubos na makikinabang. Nagiging sanhi ito ng artispisyal na
kakulangan sa mga pamilihan. Ang madalas na ilegal na itinatago ay bigas na siya
namang pangunahing pagkain ng mga tao. Kung mapapansin sa mga pamilihan, ang
mga mamimili ay hindi maiwasang magkagulo at mag-panic.

 Kartel – ito ay ang pangkat ng mga malalaking negosyante na nagmamanipula at

kumokontrol ng distribusyon, pagpe-presyo ng mga produkto at gayundin ang pagbili.

Senyales ng kakulangan
 Bumababa ang suplay ng mga produkto sa mga pamilihan o merkado

 Kapag hindi mapigilan ang pagtaas ng demand

Mga maaring gawin upang masolusyunan ang

suliranin ng kakapusan at kakulangan
Kailangan ng sapat na pagsusuri o tamang kaisipan upang makabuo ng mga tamang
solusyon. Ang isang bansa ay kinakailangan ng tulong ng mga mamamayan o
kooperasyon ng mga tao kung gustong maisakatuparan ang mga hakbangin na nabuo.
Mawawalan ito ng bisa kung ang mga mamamayan mismo ay walang kooperasyon at
walang tiwala na uunlad ang ekonomiya ng bansa. Ang pagkakaroon ng positibong
pag-iisip ay makakatulong upang magkaroon ng paniniwala na magreresulta ng
maganda ang mga paraang gagamitin. Halimbawa:

Solusyon sa kakapusan:
 Maaring magpatupad at magpaigting ng mga batas.
 Pagsusumikap na makapagtipid sa maliit man o malaking bagay.

 Pagsusumikap na maiangat ang buhay mula sa kahirapan

Solusyon sa kakulangan:
 Matutong magreserba

 Paggamit ng mga bagay na mas importante kaysa sa mga bagay na maari namang
isantabi.

Ang mga nabanggit ay ilan lamang sa mga suhestyon na maaaring gawin o maaaring
maging batayan upang makabuo ng mga magagandang pamamaraan. Ang kakapusan
at kakulangan na pang-ekonomiya ay sadyang makakaapekto sa pamumuhay ng tao
kung kaya’t nararapat lamang na magkaroon ng kontribusyon ang mga mamamayan
upang mas higit na makamit ang solusyon sa mga suliraning kinakaharap ng bansa.

Growing Inclusive Businesses in the Philippines:

The Role of Government Policies and Programs
Roehlano M. Briones1 Abstract Inclusive business (IB) is a private sector approach to
providing goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at
scale or scalable, to people at the base of the pyramid by making them part of the value
chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors, retailers, or customers.
There is keen interest in IBs, both in the public and private spheres, as a strategy for
inclusive growth. The Department of Trade and Industry is setting up an accreditation
system to certify business models as IB, based on an evaluation tool, initially for three
priority sectors: agribusiness, housing, and tourism. This paper anlayzes the economic
and development potential of IBs, and describes existing programs and policies of the
government in terms of openness to IB. It then makes several recommendations for
short-term IB promotion, as well as long-term measures to support IB in the Philippines.
Keywords: Inclusive growth, inclusive business, micro, small, and medium enterprises,
sm

Characterizing inclusive business and the BoP.

Inclusive business is a private sector approach to providing goods, services, and livelihoods on a
commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people at the base of the pyramid by
making them part of the value chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors,
retailers, or customers. More specifically, it covers business models implemented by profit
making commercial entities that bring systemic impact in scale to the poor and vulnerable
people under the $3 international poverty line by engaging the poor as suppliers, consumers,
employees, and distributors. The design of priority sector strategies for reaching the poor
should start with characterizing the socio-economic conditions of the poor in the Philippines,
summarized as follows:  The base of the pyramid (BoP) accounts for a large majority (more
than 60%) of the population.  Though poverty has been falling, the rate of decline has been
very slow, motivating the search for measures to accelerate growth, and increase the social
impact of growth.  Poverty is primarily a rural phenomenon.  Being poor is positively related
with being underemployed, and more so being visibly underemployed.  Agriculture plays a
dominant role in the livelihoods of the poor.  Being an underemployed agricultural worker is
strongly associated with being poor.  The agricultural worker earns less than half the average
daily basic pay.  Depressed levels of agricultural wages have persisted over the decade. 
Increased labor income at scale, including labor income of farmer-operators, is less likely to be
realized in traditional farming activities.  BoP households suffer much lower quality of housing
compared average household.  BoP households are incrementally building up their homes, but
in a slow and costly process for both themselves and society as a whole. Abundant labor
resources available at affordable wages are the main economic advantages from employing the
poor, whether directly as workers or indirectly as suppliers. However, high coordination cost,
unfavorable business environment, and inadequate human and financial resources, are major
challenges replicating and sustaining inclusive business. BoP 3 households face greater
obstacles to overcoming these challenges. Similarly, market failure prevents BoP households
from gaining sufficient access to quality housing. To promote IB, a typology of three policy
approaches is adopted, namely: enabling companies to enter IB activities; encouraging
companies, including social enterprises, to invest in IB activities; and empowering BoP
households to engage with companies. Each of these provide several types of benefits, namely:
improved information; a clear set of rules; access to financial resources; and improved structure
and capacity. These policy approaches presupposes a method of distinguishing IB from other
types of business or developmental effort. A practical way to do this is to apply an evaluation
tool (based on scoring) to measure the qualification of a business model for IB accreditation,
based on criteria of financial viability, social impact, and innovations. Accreditation is applied
only to specific projects or business models of companies already operating legally in the
Philippines, whether foreign or local. Finally, accreditation presupposes a monitoring process, in
which models that cease to meet IB criteria will lose their accreditation. The criterion of “social
impact” requires a minimum scale, hence the accreditation criteria will likely favor companies
able to to implement large-scale projects, though these projects will benefit the BoP by
engaging them as suppliers, workers, or consumers. Engagement of the BoP will likely require
support from the IB company, the specific form of which (finance, technical assistance,
favorable pricing, etc.) will depend on the particulars of the IB model being proposed. Given
BOI’s mandate to encourage investments which provide significant employment opportunities
relative to the amount of capital investment, provide a fountain for the futue development of
the economy, and accelerate development of less developed regions of the country, the BOI is
the logical agency to handle IB accreditation, though independently of its incentive registration
process. Government programs relevant to IB. The country’s national development plan
expresses a strong commitment empowering BoP households. However the national strategy is
weak in terms of encouraging and enabling companies to realize benefits from IB. Marketing,
technology, and production management, are functions at which the private sector has
comparative advantage in the supply chain. An alternative approach therefore is to take the
private sector rather than grassroots enterprises or poor households themselves as the entry
point for intervention. Social impact is ensured by a rigorous accreditation process that
distinguishes IB from conventional commerce. Various other government programs are related
to inclusive business. The following observations are relevant for integrating IB into these
programs:  The government’s initiatives with respect to industry roadmaps and clusters
provide an important opportunity to nurture business alliances, including IB or networks
promoting IB. Likewise, the clusters and roadmaps, being multi-sector initiatives, are excellent
opportunities to introduce IBs to a broad group of stakeholders.  As for investment promotion
based on fiscal incentives, problems have been noted in the country’s investment incentives
regime, underscoring the need for reforms. These reform initiatives create an opportunity to
integrate IB in the country’s investment promotion regime.  On paper there is a strong
commitment towards an agribusiness and value chain approach towards developing the small
farmer and fishers (SFF). However the policy pronouncements contrast sharply with budget
priorities and implementation. An 4 agribusiness-based approach to agricultural development
will benefit greatly from an IB accreditation scheme. Based on initial meetings, the multi-
stakeholder mechanism within DA, namely the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries
(PCAF), has welcomed further discussion to explain and disseminate IB models to the various
stakeholders.  Lack of finance is a major obstacle to MSME and agri-enterprise development.
Instead, government financial programs can phase in value chain participation of IBs as part of
its strategy for an inclusive financial sector. Government can support this by providing
guarantees.  Mandatory allocation for BoP sectors is unlikely to be acceptable to financial
institutions. The disadvantage to mandatory allocation is that they contribute to raising the cost
of financial intermediation across-the-board.  Tourism policies and programs are not
specifically designed to engage the base of the pyramid.  The government imposes a
mandatory allocation for socialized housing, and offers generous subsidies for homeowners.
Subsidy schemes are provided at huge fiscal cost by providing implicit and explicit subsidies that
do not meet their target clientele, the low-income households, while crowding out private
sector financing. Integrating IB in government programs: an IB policy proposal. The following
recommendations pertain to an IB policy proposal that involve no major legislative changes. 1)
To address the need for information on specific firms which meet IB standards among CSOs,
SFFs, SMES, and LGUs , BOI should establish and scale up IB accreditation. Accreditation will
become meaningful only after a strong communication campaign that will explain to
stakeholders the nature and scope of IB, and the specific features of IB accreditation, and how a
typical IB scheme works. The list of companies with accredited IB projects can be kept on a
public database to be disseminated nationwide, i.e. through the newly established Negosyo
centers. The list should also be incorporated into the Philippine Business Registry Databank.
Dissemination and promotion by DTI through BOI and the Negosyo Centers can provide a
valuable information service to LGUs, producer organizations, farmer’s groups, and other
stakeholders, e.g. private banks, GFIs, donor agencies, etc. 2) Regarding the roadmaps, targets
should go beyond revenue or output, and adopt aswell social impact such as jobs generated
among the BoP. The roadmaps offer an opportunity to incorporate IB in the country’s
coordination and industrial promotion strategies. The current set of roadmaps require an
industry appraisal (including problem analysis), objectives and targets, a flexible set of
strategies and roles, and a monitoring system, to inform stakeholder dialogue and
implementation. The targets are typically cast in terms of output (or value added) growth.
Inclusive growth can be more explicitly incorporated into roadmaps by specifying social impact
targets, e.g. employment generated among the poor, number of small farmers engaged as
contract growers, number of companies with IB-accredited projects, and so on. A related
opportunity is the industry cluster (IC) program, which will be a good jump off point; DTI –
Regional Operations Group (DTI-ROG) help drawing up the value chains for the 6 priority
clusters (Processed Food (Fruits and Nuts), Cacao, Coco coir, Coffee, Processed 5 Rubber, and
Tourism Support Industries). The IB accreditation can have far reaching consequences for these
ICs especially in the areas of RM sourcing, production/technology, financing and marketing. 3)
BOI should institute a Services and Monitoring Lane for IB-accredited projects. IB projects that
are also registering for incentives with BOI should be prioritized in receiving advisory services in
dealing with other government agencies in the paper trail, as well as after-sales service in
complying with registration and accreditation requirements. These services will also serve as a
monitoring for compliance with the parameters of its IB model. 4) Lending institutions financing
IB-accredited agribusiness and tourism projects should qualify for enhanced guarantee cover.
Financing can be coursed through the IB, or directly to BoP households or enterprises in the IB
value chain. The enhancement can take the form of change in treatment of subrogated loans in
the case of agri-agra credit; and increased principal cover in the case of MSME credit. 5) IB can
be further integrated in MSME and SFF development interventions by granting preferential
treatment to IB-linked BoP households and their enterprises. Government programs such as
Shared Service Facilities (SSF) target support to micro and small enterprises, as well as small
farmers and fishers. Such support may be designed so as to prioritize MSMEs already linked to
IBs. Moreover, the IB may be tasked with providing technical and other services so as to
optimize government support for MSMEs; the recommendation however falls short of actually
extending program benefits to the IB itself (e.g. in terms of the SSF, the IB need not qualify as a
co-operator). Other assistance from IB buyers should be considered in the value chain, so long
as this is agreeable to both all parties, such as: technical assistance in operating and
maintaining specialized equipment; or even management and maintenance services for
specialized equipment. IB Policy Plus A more radical approach to integrating IB in government
programs entail major legislative changes in the area of fiscal incentives, mandatory allocation,
and subsidies. For fiscal incentives, reforms are divided into two scenarios. The first scenario is
EO-226-amended. The second scenario is new fiscal incentive regime.

THE END 