1. Rainforest Farming strategy
for Corporate Social
Responsibility

2. History of Rainforestation
Visayas State University (VSU, formerly Visayas
State College of Agriculture) and the German
Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) started to
develop an agroforestry system known as
“Rainforestation Farming.”
The VSU Institute of Tropical Ecology (VSU-ITE),
pursued this work and received strong support
from various local government units, peoples’
organizations, non-government organizations.

3. History of Rainforestation
This was adopted by the Philippine National
Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) through Memorandum
Circular 2004-06 as an official
reforestation strategy.

4. The Philippines
Rainforest Farming
Situationer

5. LAND USE: In the Philippines Today…
 About half the land is classified as
alienable and disposable.
 This land may be privately owned. The
other half, which mostly has slopes of
greater than 18 percent, is classified as
public forestland.
 Only 6 million ha has significant tree cover
and less than 1 million ha of old-growth or
primary forest remains

6. Land Use in the Philippines
(in Thousands of Hectares)
LAND COVER AREA
Forest 7,226
Pine 81
Mossy or unproductive 246
Dipterocarp 6,629
Closed 2,435
Open 4,194
Mangrove 149
Other 121
Extensive cultivation 11,958
Open in forest 31
Grassland 1,813
Mixeda 10,114

7. LAND COVER AREA
Intensive cultivation 9,729
Plantation 5,336
Coconut 1,133
Other 90
Coconut and cropland 3,748
Other and cropland 365
Cropland 4,393
Fish ponds 205
Fish ponds created from 195
mangroves
Other fishponds 10
Other land or lakes 542
Unclassified area 546
TOTAL 30,206
grass, brush, plantation, and other a Mixed crops.
SOURCE: Swedish Space Corporation. 1988. Mapping of the Natural Conditionsof the

8. Intensification of Rice Production in
the Lowlands
 Lowland rice fields in the Philippines are about half
irrigated and half rained. Initially, the green
revolution (the breakthroughs in rice varietal
technology in the late 1960s) increased labor use
intensity in rice production.
 More rice crops were produced each year (two
instead of one), and more intensive management
was applied.
 But rained rice farming did not experience the extent
of technical change that occurred in irrigated rice
farming or the same gain in productivity.
 Therefore, the economic disparity between the
irrigated and rained rice fields increased.

9. Agriculture and the Uplands
Farmers to initiate farming in upland areas:
 The expansion of land for raising sugarcane in the
western Visayas from 1960 to 1975 was also
primarily at the expense of small-scale upland
rice and maize production
 As effective control of agricultural land becomes
more concentrated in the hands of wealthier
farmers and corporations, small farms are
becoming smaller, a process that has been
accelerated by the subdivision of property
through inheritance.
 The end result has been increasing landlessness
for the rural poor.

10. Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) in Philippine
Rainforestation Farming

11. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
"Corporate Social Responsibility
is the continuing commitment by
business to behave ethically
and contribute to economic
development while improving the
quality of life of the
workforce and their families as
well as of the local community
and society at large"

12. THE FOCUS ON
SOCIO-ENVIRONMENT
COMMITMENT
A concept whereby companies
integrate social and
environmental concerns in their
business operations and in
their interaction with their
stakeholders on a voluntary
basis".

13. Social responsibility becomes an
integral part of the wealth creation
process - which if managed properly
should enhance the competitiveness
of business and maximize the value
of wealth creation to society.

15. Social Responsibility
Companies need to answer to two aspects
of their operations.
1. The quality of their management - both
in terms of people and processes (the
inner circle).
2. The nature of, and quantity of their
impact on society in the various areas.

16. The emerging environment
and social-economic
controversies…

17. ECONOMICS PHILIPPINES: Farming to
Property Development or for an Easy Profits
As the Philippines grapples with its
worst food crisis in years, many
farmers in its cradle of rice
cultivation are abandoning farming .

18. ECONOMICS PHILIPPINES: Farming to Property
Development or for an Easy Profits
 Instead of cultivating farmers’ own rice on
the small patch of land inherited, farmers
use the payment receive from tourists to
buy cheap rice distributed by the
government to poor communities.
 Even though rice prices are high at the
moment, farmers' profits are low due to the
high cost of fertilizer.
 The low prices farmers still receive for their
crops from millers and other middlemen
who often pocket most of the profits.

19. ECONOMICS PHILIPPINES: Farming to
Property Development or for an Easy Profits
Currently, up to 2 million hectares of
farmland are devoted to farming rice
in the Philippines but the archipelago
has less arable land per capita than
other big rice-producing nations…
and officials fear farms risk being
gobbled up by property and leisure
developers.

20. … but as we progress, so did we start
experiencing environmental problems.
Strengthening Environmental Education to Make a Difference
photo credit: rapingmothernature.com

21. Forest Denudation is at an Advanced Stage
in the Philippines.
 Total forest cover shrank from 10.5 million ha in
1968 to 6.1 million ha in 1991. The remaining old-
growth forest covered less than 1 million ha in 1991
and possibly as little as 700,000 ha.
 At current rates of logging, nearly all vestiges of the
country's primary dipterocarp forest biota may be
depleted in the next 10 to 15 years.

22. Water Pollution
The Philippines government to minimize the use of
agrochemicals, warning that these products have
polluted water sources in the country. A study has
found that the widespread use of agrochemicals such
as fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides in
Philippine farms has led to widespread water
pollution.

23. Aerial Pesticide Row Tests
Powers of LGU
 The legal battle over the ban on aerial
spraying of poisonous pesticides involving
controversial pesticide use in banana
plantations in1993 in Davao City.
 This is not the first case in which farmers
squared off against big agribusinesses over
the issue of public health and environmental
devastating impacts.

24. Climate change and hunger:
Evidence from the Philippines
A fourth quarter
survey put the hunger
measure at 24% as of
December 2009,
equivalent to 4.4 million
families. It surpassed the
previous record high of
23.7% hit in December
2008.

25. Child Labors
-Studies say that several
banana companies have
admitted to having child
laborers in banana
plantations.
-The practice usually entails
the growers employing their
own children or those of their
neighbors to work in the
plantations.

26. Approaches and Policies
Recognition to
Rainforestation Farming

27. The state shall promote national awareness on the role of
natural resources in economic growth and the importance of
environmental conservation and ecological balance towards
sustained national development.
Strengthening Environmental Education to Make a Difference

28. The Corporate Social
Responsibility Act of
2009, mandates
corporations to "consider
the interests of society by
taking responsibility for the
impact of their activities on
customers, employees,
shareholders, communities
and the environment in all
aspects of their
operations."

29. Proponents of the new bill say that
the State recognizes the vital role of the
private sector in nation building and
should encourage its active participation in
fostering sustainable economic
development and environment protection
in the Philippines.

30. Reviews of Existing Policies
There have been several recent reviews
concerning natural resource management
in the Philippines. These reviews
examined government policy, the political
climate, and the institutional framework
and made numerous specific
recommendations for a major
reorientation.

31. Reviews of Existing Policies
Policy reviews under way at local, national,
and international levels must be
broadened to consider the negative effects
that policies have had on sustainable
land use.

32. Reviews of Existing Policies
 In addition, the Master Plan for Forestry
Development (Department of Environment and
Natural Resources, 1990) has recently been
issued by the Philippine government.
 It lays out a framework for forestland
management over the next 25 years.
 It sets a detailed, optimistic agenda that adopts
a strategy of reduced public management in
favor of increased private management of forest
resources through people-oriented forestry.

33. The National Disaster Management Program
The Philippine disaster management
program has a broad scope covering
disaster preparedness, organization and
training, construction of disaster reduction
facilities, disaster response and
rehabilitation, public information, and
research and development.

34. The National Disaster Management Program
Flood control projects and watershed
management projects, in additions to
the broader reforestation effort, are
all geared to mitigate the worst
effects to natural disasters.

35. Farming in the Rainforest can Preserve
Biodiversity, Ecological Services
RA 9512
Greening Programs

36. Farming in the Rainforest can Preserve
Biodiversity, Ecological Services
To encourage market-driven and
environmentally and socially
responsible management of
forests, tree farms and forest
resources.

37. Farming in the Rainforest can Preserve
Biodiversity, Ecological Services
Conserving biodiversity:
Agriculture chemical producers are
oftentimes frowned upon as causing
biodiversity loss in the belief that the
chemicals or the products they
produce for farm use adversely affect
the other living things in the farms.

38. Farming in the Rainforest can Preserve
Biodiversity, Ecological Services
Less chemicals:
 In helping conserve biodiversity, the agribusiness firm
has invested money and intellectual property in
developing more effective active ingredients so the
farmers can use less chemicals and target specific issues
or specific problems without having an impact on the
rest of the environment.
 Technology in crops is a good example when it deals
with a very specific issue and has no other impact.
 This can be done the same thing with crop chemicals by
developing chemicals that are very specific to an issue or
to a very broad spectrum.

39. Water Stress:
On the issue of water, we see the role
agriculture can play in the two areas:
 One is to enable plants deal with stress
better. Water stress can be little water or
too much water.
 The second is helping farmers improve
their efficiency in using water

40. Farming in the Rainforest can Preserve
Biodiversity, Ecological Services
Lessen greenhouse-gas emission:
 Through good agronomic practices, we can help
lessen greenhouse-gas emission by encouraging
farmers to adopt minimum-tillage or no-tillage
farming.
 Using herbicide-tolerant varieties, like in corn,
which allow farmers effectively retain stubble
and retain organic matter and use herbicide to
control the weeds,”

41. The Importance of
Information and
Education Campaign

42. IEC
 Public information: Both through training and
public education campaigns.
 the Philippines has also included research and
development.
 Technical Assistance and direct interactions
 Determines the existing problems that can
recommends review of policies

43. “It makes sense for a firm based in
farm areas to have programs
targeting the farmers who may not
have access to needed agricultural
inputs or information, which could
make their livelihood easier”

44. YOU! THANK
YOU!