[NYTr] Philippines: Farmers may lose Land under RP-China deals

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

IBON Foundation - Sep 17, 2007
http://www.ivon.org

IBON Media Release/September 17, 2007

FARMERS MAY LOSE CONTROL OF 1.2 MILLION FARMLANDS UNDER RP-CHINA DEALS

Farmers may lose control of over a million hectares of farmland under
four agreements on agriculture the Philippines signed with China last
January, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

At least four of the 18 agreements entered into by the Philippines with
China required government to commit 1.24 million hectares for the
cultivation of hybrid rice, hybrid corn and hybrid sorghum.

Last week, the Department of Agrarian Reform had announced it was
looking at 400,000 to 500,000 hectares of land for agribusiness
development under a memorandum of agreement with China signed January
2007. But the deals could ultimately cover as much as 8.8 million
hectares of idle alienable and disposable lands and forest lands.

Land reconcentration, in which land distributed under land reform
programs reverts to the landlords, is highly possible if these deals
will be fully implemented. Past experience has shown that arrangements
wherein farmers are asked to enter into production and marketing tie-ups
with agri-business corporations lead not only to farmers losing control
of their lands, but losing ownership altogether.

The RP-China farm deals may also threaten the country's food security as
more and more lands are shifted from food staples such as rice, to
production of crops for biofuels. Since the mid-1990s, the country is
already completely a net food importer from being a net food exporter in
earlier years.

China's rapid economic expansion makes it one of the most voracious
consumers of fuel in the world and thus, its demand for biofuels is
expected to grow in the coming years. But since domestically China
prioritizes food production over need for biofuels production, it is
turning to East Asian producers such as the Philippines to meet its
growing biofuel needs.

The Philippine Biofuels Act of 2006 does not prohibit corporate growers
from converting lands dedicated to food crops to large-scale bioethanol
and biodiesel production for export if they find it more profitable than
producing crops for domestic food consumption. (end)

IBON will hold an Usapang IBON with grassroots organizations on the
RP-China deals tomorrow, September 18, 1-5 p.m. at IBON Center, Timog
Ave., QC.

IBON Foundation, Inc. is an independent development institution
established in 1978 that provides research, education, publications,
information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.