Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
KIDMADI Bishops Reject the Tampakan Mining Project
Posted:
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Dioceses of Kidapawan, Marbel and Digos (KIDMADI) reiterate their opposition against the Tampakan Copper and Gold Project by the London based XSTRATA/SMI. As pastors of the flock, they are deeply troubled and concerned on the irreversible damage to the environment particularly to the biodiversity and the last remaining forest, livelihood, food security, health and of the poor communities both of the IPs and the down-stream communities. It is the biggest direct foreign investment to the country at present which amounting to $5.6B, but will it augment its critical damage to agriculture and livelihood of the stakeholders and the country's economy.
Bishop Romulo dela Cruz, D.D., the ordinary of the diocese of Kidapawan in his letter addressed to the SMI said, " I have serious reservations about the humongous scale of the project." And after thorough evaluation and assessment of the EIS he further noted that, "it fails to convince me that the good which can be expected of the project will outweigh the harm that it brings to man and nature alike. As it stands, I cannot support the project."
The present mining policies of the Philippines such as Mining Act of 1995 (RA 7942), EO 270 (Revitalization of the Philippine Mining industry) and other statutes are all for the extraction of the countries natural resources. These exploitative and destructive mining activities do not promote neither guarantee Sustainable Development in those communities. Our National Patrimony, our mineral reserves are exploited aggressively favoring the foreign investors, and what would be left to the Filipino people? Hazardous Waste? The 2% excise tax and other local taxes in which the mining companies are boasting are all fictitious because of its very minimal contribution of the mining industry to the Gross National Product (GNP).
The countries metallic minerals will be all gone and our laws only provide pitiful taxes will be provided for but its destruction of the watershed, protected areas and agricultural zones are irreversible. This economic condition pushes the poor to be marginalized. The poor will be the most vulnerable sector. ALL OUR PRECIOUS METALS ARE GONE FOR FREE. The Mining Act of 1995 and the EO 270 are inconsistent to the newly approved National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (NCCAP) 2011-2028 signed by President Benigno C. Aquino III last November 22, 2011. The Tampakan Copper and Gold Project will go against P'noys' seven (7) strategic priorities to combat climate change: 1) food security, 2) water sufficiency, 3) ecosystem and environmental stability, 4) human security, 5) climate smart industries and services, 6) sustainable energy, and 7) knowledge and capacity development.
Above all, it goes against the Philippine Constitution which declares as a state policy "to promote healthy and balanced ecology." (Art 2, Sect. 16). One serious emerging condition of the IP communities defending for their ancestral land is the escalation of violence. According to Fr. Rey Ondap, CP of the Catholic Mission on Indigenous Peoples, "because of strong opposition, tension are prevalent." There was an alleged harassment of the military in the IP communities. Bishop Dinualdo of Marbel has urged the concerned parties that "we must avoid the escalation of violence."
After 17 to 20 years SMI/XSTRATA will approximately mine 6.375 million tonnes of copper (375, 000 tonnes per annum) and 6.120 million ounces of gold (360, 000 ounces per annum of gold) in concentrate, who will manage those huge infrastructures? We call for a moratorium to seriously adhere to the voice of the communities.
Bishop Jimmy Afable of Digos shows similar concern since the facilities like fresh water dam and tailings dam will be constracted at the Mal River Catchment, but these huge storage facilities are directly under criss-crossing faultlines. This apprehension was seconded by the reviewer of the EIS of the company that "The Tampakan mine has a high potential for loss of life and high environmental damage if a failure of Dams or Rock Storage facilities occurs." Even if the company argues that putting this huge structures under international standard.
The $76M Environmental Impact Assessment cost of the XSTRATA/SMI is not enough study the impact of mining on this one of the most bio-diverse area comprehensively. It still leaves five general impacts that are not adequately answered: 1) the displacement and resettlement of onsite households, 2) the loss of onsite forest lands and biodiversity resources, 3) the diversion of surface and groundwater for the use of the mine and the displacement of existing in-stream and off stream users, 4) the acid drainage, spillage, leakages, overflows and the pollution of natural water source; 5) the risks of a tailings dam failure or collapse.
The letter of request for a meeting with the president sent by the 3 bishops, Bp. Dinualdo D. Guttierrez, Bp. Jimmy Afable and Bp. Romulo dela Cruz was received in Malacañang last Nov. 9, 2011 tend to discuss with the president some serious concern on XSTRATA/SMI Copper and Gold Project. It pertains to the open pit mining that is very destructive and the location of the mine is in the heart of Quezon Mountain Range and at the same time, at the heart of our forest and watershed. Up to the present no reply was heard concerning the request.
The three (3) dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church gathered the strong 108, 424 signatures that signify the validity of the issues and will be submitted to Malacañang on Dec. 14, 2011 through the National Social Action Secretariat (NASSA-CBCP).
PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF GOD'S CREATION!
PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE COMMUNITIES!
THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE INTEREST OF HER PEOPLE!
RESPECT THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO SELF DETERMINATION!
KIDMADI BISHOPS
(Sgd) Most. Rev. Romulo dela Cruz, D.D.
(Diocese of Kidapawan)
(Sgd) Most Rev. Dinualdo D. Gutierrez, D.D.
(Diocese of Marbel)
(Sgd) Most Rev. Jimmy Affable, D.D.
(Diocese of Digos)
Farmers - The jewels of society
Posted:
Thursday, January 22, 2009
by Dada Vimaleshananda
I believe in the inherent spiritual gift that people living in the countryside have. It is on that strategically superior perception of the relationship between God and creation that I wish to tap into and bring it in political action. And it is through interviewing local farmers that I wish to bring up their consciousness of the spiritual value of farming life in order to give them the strength to remain struggling and fighting against odd legislations, weather conditions, lack of social recognition and generally ... hardship.
Needless to say in the countryside women are leaders. It is just an observation considering the level of involvement in social affairs and the capacity to tackle difficult situations. They are leaders in the school and in the education, they are leaders in the trade, they are leaders in the social service, wherever I go it is women that I found at the helm of responsibility and responsible choices. If I had to interview them I would ask:
* where is your strength?
* can you tell a story about what happened in a specific incident that required your strength to come in full expression?
* how you felt after?
* how you feel know remembering that incident?
The capacity to nurture our positive sides seems to be the winning element on the path of growth, spiritual as well as social. I do believe that in order to increase the strength of human society we have to emphasize the best of its characteristics and distinctive qualities. The process of integration is very different from the process of homogenization. I stand for integration and understanding, not for blending and making a whole gray color out of the beautiful differences in a rainbow.
One time in my childhood my mother encouraged me to do interviews. She gave me a book of Oriana Fallaci who had the venture to interview several state heads including Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Muhammar Geddafi, and others. I accepted her advice and I run three interview with sports trainers in my local town. One of these interview got published on the local newspaper.
I believe in the inherent spiritual gift that people living in the countryside have. It is on that strategically superior perception of the relationship between God and creation that I wish to tap into and bring it in political action. And it is through interviewing local farmers that I wish to bring up their consciousness of the spiritual value of farming life in order to give them the strength to remain struggling and fighting against odd legislations, weather conditions, lack of social recognition and generally ... hardship.
Needless to say in the countryside women are leaders. It is just an observation considering the level of involvement in social affairs and the capacity to tackle difficult situations. They are leaders in the school and in the education, they are leaders in the trade, they are leaders in the social service, wherever I go it is women that I found at the helm of responsibility and responsible choices. If I had to interview them I would ask:
* where is your strength?
* can you tell a story about what happened in a specific incident that required your strength to come in full expression?
* how you felt after?
* how you feel know remembering that incident?
The capacity to nurture our positive sides seems to be the winning element on the path of growth, spiritual as well as social. I do believe that in order to increase the strength of human society we have to emphasize the best of its characteristics and distinctive qualities. The process of integration is very different from the process of homogenization. I stand for integration and understanding, not for blending and making a whole gray color out of the beautiful differences in a rainbow.
The Human Cost of Economic Meltdown and Its Alternatives
Posted:
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
by Dada Maheshvarananda
The New York Times editorial calls this "the scariest economic free fall the world has seen since 1929," referring to the Great Depression that caused great suffering to millions. The sentiment is echoed by hundreds of leading economists, bankers and traders whose opinions are quoted daily, as they struggle to explain the economic fallout to the general public. Yet no one is able to confidently predict our economic future.
The US government first bailed out and then, following the lead set by Britain, France, Italy and Spain, began taking over some of the largest financial institutions. How many billions and trillions do they have? Of course the answer is that they already have more than 10 trillion dollars in national debt!
The Human Costs
The human costs of this economic meltdown are only beginning to be felt. More than a million citizens have lost their homes in the past two years, and a million more are expected to lose their homes in the coming12 months. Yet the United States government continues to pay more of the mortgage costs of rich homeowners, through larger tax deductions, than of poorer homeowners.
United States citizens have lost two trillion dollars in retirement funds, representing about 20 percent of their value since last year, reducing the income of everyone and forcing many older working citizens to continue working even into their late sixties. Countless small investors are losing their savings.
The frozen credit market, which is much more serious than the severe stock market declines, will cause companies around the world, unable to borrow, to layoff workers and unemployment will rise.
The Russian stock market fell by about two-thirds since May. Thus, the global financial crisis has wiped out roughly a trillion dollars in wealth across the country.
The country of Iceland itself is failing. Prime Minister Geir Haarde warned of the threat of "national bankruptcy." The government seized its three largest banks to prevent their failure, and the currency had already lost half its value before its trade was halted. The country is desperately seeking an emergency loan from Russia or from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However accepting the IMF harsh structural adjustment policies to restore fiscal and monetary stability will hurt everyone, an extraordinary reversal for the island's economy, which has been quite affluent for the last decade.
Consumerism and Greed
Greed is the excessive and selfish pursuit of wealth or other material things, without concern whether one's actions deprive others of necessities. Rather than controlling this instinct, unregulated capitalism encourages it. Some proponents of free market capitalism even go so far as to argue that greed should be considered a positive trait because the race to maximize profits propels the global economy. As the character Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street said, "Greed... is good!"
The meltdown has been caused in large part by corporations that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising campaigns to make debt sound desirable and risk-free. Their sophisticated ad campaigns and direct mail programs are aimed at every age group, from young teenagers to the elderly. The largest credit card company launched a campaign "Life Takes Visa," MasterCard did "Priceless" and Citibank taught "Live Richly." The insidious goal of each of these campaigns was to eliminate negative feelings about going into debt. The creative director of MasterCard's campaign, Jonathan B. Cranin, explained, "One of the tricks in the credit card business is that people have an inherent guilt with spending. What you want is to have people feel good about their purchases."
It gets nastier, because lenders prey on people who urgently need loans to pay for health care and other necessities. To squeeze more profit from borrowers, US credit card companies have increased interest rates from 17.7 percent in 2005 to 19.1 percent last year, a difference that gives them billions of dollars in extra profits. Average late fees rose from less than $13 in 1994 to $35 in 2007, and fees charged when customers exceed their credit limits more than doubled to from $11 to $26 a month.
The lucrative lending practices of these merchants of debt have led millions of North Americans — young and old, rich and poor — to the brink. However in 2005 the bankruptcy laws were changed. This legislation, proposed by President Bush and driven through Congress by financial services firms, makes it much harder for consumers with modest incomes to escape from under their debt by filing for bankruptcy. The new laws encouraged more reckless lending on the part of lenders, because they could more easily force poor borrowers to repay.
Practices such as these that produced record profits for many banks have shaken the world's financial system to its foundation. As a growing number of people default on payments, banks are recording hundreds of billions in losses, devastating their shareholders. As each bank is realizing that it is holding many bad debts, an increasing distrust is taking place between the institutions, afraid of how many bad debts the other banks are holding.
Global economy vs. Local economy
The solution to the global economic meltdown should be the formation of local economies. The first crucial step of any humane economy is to provide the basic necessities of life to all: food and pure water, clothing, housing, education and medical care. Human beings require these in order to realize their individual potentialities, to develop culturally, to achieve inner fulfillment and self-realization, which many now consider as higher goals of life. What a wonderful world it will be when no one on the planet will have to worry about getting enough money to buy the food, clothes, housing, education and medical care needed for his or her family!
Second, the current centralized economies should be decentralized into economically self-reliant regions. The regions would be defined by geographic conditions, and by the inhabitants' cultural legacy, language, economic problems and interests. These bioregions would decide their economic future from below, with planning emerging from the communities and supported by central government policies.
Third, each economic region should also be divided into smaller "blocks" or counties, which would provide the basic level of grassroots economic planning. The area of a county is small enough for the planners to understand all the problems of the area; local leaders would be able to solve the problems according to local priorities; planning would be more practical and effective and give quick, positive results.
Fourth, breaking the dependence on petroleum by rejuvenating local agriculture and achieving self-reliance in food, medicines and energy. The importance of rural employment and an adequate standard of living to reduce internal and external migrations is also important.
Each of these solutions is part of the Progressive Utilization Theory or PROUT, which proposes a dynamic economy of the people, by the people and for the people. Rejecting profit making as the goal of the economy, PROUT bases its economic policy on consumption; that is, on meeting the actual needs of people. PROUT proposes a three-tiered economic system to realize this.
To preserve the creative, innovative spirit of capitalism, but to avoid the destructive, exploiting impact of capital which disregards social costs and environmental degradation, private enterprises should be of small-scale.
The second tier of the PROUT economy is formed by cooperatives. This guarantees economic democracy, a decrease in alienation and a more just distribution of wealth. The goal of cooperatives is not profit at any cost, but satisfying the real needs of the community and achieving everyone's well-being. Members participate in decision-making and determine their community's economic future.
The final tier is industries which have strategic importance and which are too big or too complex to be efficiently managed by a cooperative. For example energy, steel, telecommunications, airlines, etc., should be state-owned and managed by elected boards in the public interest at the national or state levels. These key industries should be run on a no profit, no loss basis, serving all the people of the country.
The Central Bank of each country is such a key industry. However all the other banks should be cooperative credit unions, loaning savings to local businesses, cooperatives and homeowners.
A local economy organized in this way would be human-based, resilient to global market fluctuations and inflation, and able to achieve full employment. Isn't this the type of economy we want?
**********
Dada Maheshvarananda is a yoga monk, activist and writer. He is author of After Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World with preface by Noam Chomsky, translated into 10 languages. He is director of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela. See www.priven.org or write him at maheshvarananda@prout.org
The New York Times editorial calls this "the scariest economic free fall the world has seen since 1929," referring to the Great Depression that caused great suffering to millions. The sentiment is echoed by hundreds of leading economists, bankers and traders whose opinions are quoted daily, as they struggle to explain the economic fallout to the general public. Yet no one is able to confidently predict our economic future. The US government first bailed out and then, following the lead set by Britain, France, Italy and Spain, began taking over some of the largest financial institutions. How many billions and trillions do they have? Of course the answer is that they already have more than 10 trillion dollars in national debt!
The Human Costs
The human costs of this economic meltdown are only beginning to be felt. More than a million citizens have lost their homes in the past two years, and a million more are expected to lose their homes in the coming12 months. Yet the United States government continues to pay more of the mortgage costs of rich homeowners, through larger tax deductions, than of poorer homeowners.
United States citizens have lost two trillion dollars in retirement funds, representing about 20 percent of their value since last year, reducing the income of everyone and forcing many older working citizens to continue working even into their late sixties. Countless small investors are losing their savings.
The frozen credit market, which is much more serious than the severe stock market declines, will cause companies around the world, unable to borrow, to layoff workers and unemployment will rise.
The Russian stock market fell by about two-thirds since May. Thus, the global financial crisis has wiped out roughly a trillion dollars in wealth across the country.
The country of Iceland itself is failing. Prime Minister Geir Haarde warned of the threat of "national bankruptcy." The government seized its three largest banks to prevent their failure, and the currency had already lost half its value before its trade was halted. The country is desperately seeking an emergency loan from Russia or from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However accepting the IMF harsh structural adjustment policies to restore fiscal and monetary stability will hurt everyone, an extraordinary reversal for the island's economy, which has been quite affluent for the last decade.
Consumerism and Greed
Greed is the excessive and selfish pursuit of wealth or other material things, without concern whether one's actions deprive others of necessities. Rather than controlling this instinct, unregulated capitalism encourages it. Some proponents of free market capitalism even go so far as to argue that greed should be considered a positive trait because the race to maximize profits propels the global economy. As the character Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street said, "Greed... is good!"
The meltdown has been caused in large part by corporations that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising campaigns to make debt sound desirable and risk-free. Their sophisticated ad campaigns and direct mail programs are aimed at every age group, from young teenagers to the elderly. The largest credit card company launched a campaign "Life Takes Visa," MasterCard did "Priceless" and Citibank taught "Live Richly." The insidious goal of each of these campaigns was to eliminate negative feelings about going into debt. The creative director of MasterCard's campaign, Jonathan B. Cranin, explained, "One of the tricks in the credit card business is that people have an inherent guilt with spending. What you want is to have people feel good about their purchases."
It gets nastier, because lenders prey on people who urgently need loans to pay for health care and other necessities. To squeeze more profit from borrowers, US credit card companies have increased interest rates from 17.7 percent in 2005 to 19.1 percent last year, a difference that gives them billions of dollars in extra profits. Average late fees rose from less than $13 in 1994 to $35 in 2007, and fees charged when customers exceed their credit limits more than doubled to from $11 to $26 a month.
The lucrative lending practices of these merchants of debt have led millions of North Americans — young and old, rich and poor — to the brink. However in 2005 the bankruptcy laws were changed. This legislation, proposed by President Bush and driven through Congress by financial services firms, makes it much harder for consumers with modest incomes to escape from under their debt by filing for bankruptcy. The new laws encouraged more reckless lending on the part of lenders, because they could more easily force poor borrowers to repay.
Practices such as these that produced record profits for many banks have shaken the world's financial system to its foundation. As a growing number of people default on payments, banks are recording hundreds of billions in losses, devastating their shareholders. As each bank is realizing that it is holding many bad debts, an increasing distrust is taking place between the institutions, afraid of how many bad debts the other banks are holding.
Global economy vs. Local economy
The solution to the global economic meltdown should be the formation of local economies. The first crucial step of any humane economy is to provide the basic necessities of life to all: food and pure water, clothing, housing, education and medical care. Human beings require these in order to realize their individual potentialities, to develop culturally, to achieve inner fulfillment and self-realization, which many now consider as higher goals of life. What a wonderful world it will be when no one on the planet will have to worry about getting enough money to buy the food, clothes, housing, education and medical care needed for his or her family!
Second, the current centralized economies should be decentralized into economically self-reliant regions. The regions would be defined by geographic conditions, and by the inhabitants' cultural legacy, language, economic problems and interests. These bioregions would decide their economic future from below, with planning emerging from the communities and supported by central government policies.
Third, each economic region should also be divided into smaller "blocks" or counties, which would provide the basic level of grassroots economic planning. The area of a county is small enough for the planners to understand all the problems of the area; local leaders would be able to solve the problems according to local priorities; planning would be more practical and effective and give quick, positive results.
Fourth, breaking the dependence on petroleum by rejuvenating local agriculture and achieving self-reliance in food, medicines and energy. The importance of rural employment and an adequate standard of living to reduce internal and external migrations is also important.
Each of these solutions is part of the Progressive Utilization Theory or PROUT, which proposes a dynamic economy of the people, by the people and for the people. Rejecting profit making as the goal of the economy, PROUT bases its economic policy on consumption; that is, on meeting the actual needs of people. PROUT proposes a three-tiered economic system to realize this.
To preserve the creative, innovative spirit of capitalism, but to avoid the destructive, exploiting impact of capital which disregards social costs and environmental degradation, private enterprises should be of small-scale.
The second tier of the PROUT economy is formed by cooperatives. This guarantees economic democracy, a decrease in alienation and a more just distribution of wealth. The goal of cooperatives is not profit at any cost, but satisfying the real needs of the community and achieving everyone's well-being. Members participate in decision-making and determine their community's economic future.
The final tier is industries which have strategic importance and which are too big or too complex to be efficiently managed by a cooperative. For example energy, steel, telecommunications, airlines, etc., should be state-owned and managed by elected boards in the public interest at the national or state levels. These key industries should be run on a no profit, no loss basis, serving all the people of the country.
The Central Bank of each country is such a key industry. However all the other banks should be cooperative credit unions, loaning savings to local businesses, cooperatives and homeowners.
A local economy organized in this way would be human-based, resilient to global market fluctuations and inflation, and able to achieve full employment. Isn't this the type of economy we want?
**********
Dada Maheshvarananda is a yoga monk, activist and writer. He is author of After Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World with preface by Noam Chomsky, translated into 10 languages. He is director of the Prout Research Institute of Venezuela. See www.priven.org or write him at maheshvarananda@prout.org
Biofuels competing with food crops
Posted:
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
The Philippine government wants farmers to plant crops for biofuels on a vast scale. But could the quest for green energy create food shortages?
By Imelda V Abano
Growing world energy demand, the insecurity of long-term supply and the consequences of fossil fuel use for climate change are driving governments to look for alternatives. To meet rising energy needs, many countries are promoting the production and use of biofuels - energy extracted as a gas, liquid or oil from plants.
Derived from food crops such as corn, sugarcane, soybean, oil palm and sugarbeet, biofuel production has been on the rise in recent years. It is seen by many as a clean form of energy in an era of soaring oil prices and concerns over carbon emissions.
Jatropha, a plant originating in Central America that grows wild in many developing countries, including South Africa, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines, has suddenly found itself at the centre of a new phase in the world's alternative energy boom.
In the Philippines, there is currently much hype surrounding its production as a source of renewable fuel. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has signed into law the Biofuels Act which mandates a minimum one per cent biodiesel blend and five per cent bioethanol blend in all diesel and gasoline fuels. To meet demand, the government is aggressively pushing for the cultivation of jatropha, believing it to be one of the best candidates for future biofuel production.
The government, through the Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corp, is now looking at some 1.2 million hectares for jatropha production in the southern island of Mindanao. It is also busy identifying more than 400,000 hectares of land for private sector investments.
Jatropha curcas is a drought-tolerant non-edible shrub. It produces fruits the size of golf balls which contain oil that can be converted into biodiesel, a substitute for fossil fuel.
According to Rhandy Tubal, research specialist at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Cordillera, farmers who have received training to grow jatropha are enthusiastic about the crop. He says the cultivation of the plant could provide the first step out of poverty for Filipino farmers and claims that, depending on the density of the plants, each hectare can yield jatropha oil worth nearly US$2,000 a year.
"We are in the initial stage of planting jatropha and we are very optimistic that it is indeed one of the best candidates for biofuel. Farmers are very excited about its production," Tubal says, adding that only idle land would be used for jatropha planting to avoid competition with other crops.
However, research from Australia suggests the plant will need more intensive inputs to produce the oil used for biofuels and it can take several years to develop optimum yields. Furthermore, some experts warn the move may use up precious land that could be used to grow food and may eventually hurt subsistence farmers. Concerns over possible future food shortages have generated a ‘food versus fuel’ debate in the country.
Rachel Smolker, a biofuels specialist and research biologist for the US-based environmental group the Global Justice Ecology Project, fears the global rush to switch from oil to energy derived from plants will drive deforestation, push small farmers off the land and lead to serious food shortages and increased poverty unless carefully managed.
"If food sources become biofuels, that may lead to shortages and raise prices. The promotion of biofuels will have an impact on local food security as some fuel crops are also food crops," Smolker says.
Her view is echoed by Philippine Senator Miriam Santiago, author of the 2007 Biofuels Act, who has sought more governmental oversight of biofuels development, saying that backing biofuels could adversely affect the country's ability to produce its own food.
"Biofuel is land-based and will eventually compete with food. Because the Philippines has a small land area, biofuel production will tend to encroach on food production. Corporations are already searching for millions of hectares for jatropha alone. We have to step on the brakes and decelerate," she says.
Santiago thinks the Philippines "will not prosper by betting only on the biofuels option". She says the government should explore other alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass.
But the Philippines' Environment Secretary Lito Atienza has defended the government's massive jatropha cultivation for the biofuels programme, saying it will not imperil the country's food supply.
"Jatropha is a non-food crop. So the issue over food versus fuel is not a debate about this crop. Jatropha grows on idle lands, particularly denuded mountains and forests, unfit for food crop cultivation, so it will not compete with land used for the production of food," Atienza says.
Widespread jatropha cultivation is fairly new in the Philippines. It is only recently, with the news that jatropha can be a source of biodiesel, that people have started planting larger areas of the crop.
All the more reason, according to Dr Emil Javier, president of the National Academy of Science and Technology, to check out its credentials. "The Philippines should do its homework and conduct thorough research on jatropha and see its viability compared with other alternative crops," he says.
The challenge, believes Achim Dobermann, a scientist from the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute, is to ensure a balance between food and biofuel production. "There is an urgent need to strengthen policy research in order to avoid decisions that may lead to competition between food and bioenergy."
******
Imelda V Abano is a freelance reporter based in Bagio, in the northern Philippines. She wrote this article as a result of a fellowship awarded by the Climate Change Media Partnership – a collaboration of Panos, Internews and IIED which supports journalists to investigate climate change issues.
This feature is published by Panos Features and can be reproduced free of charge. Please credit the author and Panos Features and send a copy to External Relations, Panos London, 9 White Lion St, London N1 9PD, UK. Email: media@panos.org.uk
Growing world energy demand, the insecurity of long-term supply and the consequences of fossil fuel use for climate change are driving governments to look for alternatives. To meet rising energy needs, many countries are promoting the production and use of biofuels - energy extracted as a gas, liquid or oil from plants.
Derived from food crops such as corn, sugarcane, soybean, oil palm and sugarbeet, biofuel production has been on the rise in recent years. It is seen by many as a clean form of energy in an era of soaring oil prices and concerns over carbon emissions.
Jatropha, a plant originating in Central America that grows wild in many developing countries, including South Africa, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines, has suddenly found itself at the centre of a new phase in the world's alternative energy boom.
In the Philippines, there is currently much hype surrounding its production as a source of renewable fuel. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has signed into law the Biofuels Act which mandates a minimum one per cent biodiesel blend and five per cent bioethanol blend in all diesel and gasoline fuels. To meet demand, the government is aggressively pushing for the cultivation of jatropha, believing it to be one of the best candidates for future biofuel production.
The government, through the Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corp, is now looking at some 1.2 million hectares for jatropha production in the southern island of Mindanao. It is also busy identifying more than 400,000 hectares of land for private sector investments.
Jatropha curcas is a drought-tolerant non-edible shrub. It produces fruits the size of golf balls which contain oil that can be converted into biodiesel, a substitute for fossil fuel.
According to Rhandy Tubal, research specialist at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Cordillera, farmers who have received training to grow jatropha are enthusiastic about the crop. He says the cultivation of the plant could provide the first step out of poverty for Filipino farmers and claims that, depending on the density of the plants, each hectare can yield jatropha oil worth nearly US$2,000 a year.
"We are in the initial stage of planting jatropha and we are very optimistic that it is indeed one of the best candidates for biofuel. Farmers are very excited about its production," Tubal says, adding that only idle land would be used for jatropha planting to avoid competition with other crops.
However, research from Australia suggests the plant will need more intensive inputs to produce the oil used for biofuels and it can take several years to develop optimum yields. Furthermore, some experts warn the move may use up precious land that could be used to grow food and may eventually hurt subsistence farmers. Concerns over possible future food shortages have generated a ‘food versus fuel’ debate in the country.
Rachel Smolker, a biofuels specialist and research biologist for the US-based environmental group the Global Justice Ecology Project, fears the global rush to switch from oil to energy derived from plants will drive deforestation, push small farmers off the land and lead to serious food shortages and increased poverty unless carefully managed.
"If food sources become biofuels, that may lead to shortages and raise prices. The promotion of biofuels will have an impact on local food security as some fuel crops are also food crops," Smolker says.
Her view is echoed by Philippine Senator Miriam Santiago, author of the 2007 Biofuels Act, who has sought more governmental oversight of biofuels development, saying that backing biofuels could adversely affect the country's ability to produce its own food.
"Biofuel is land-based and will eventually compete with food. Because the Philippines has a small land area, biofuel production will tend to encroach on food production. Corporations are already searching for millions of hectares for jatropha alone. We have to step on the brakes and decelerate," she says.
Santiago thinks the Philippines "will not prosper by betting only on the biofuels option". She says the government should explore other alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass.
But the Philippines' Environment Secretary Lito Atienza has defended the government's massive jatropha cultivation for the biofuels programme, saying it will not imperil the country's food supply.
"Jatropha is a non-food crop. So the issue over food versus fuel is not a debate about this crop. Jatropha grows on idle lands, particularly denuded mountains and forests, unfit for food crop cultivation, so it will not compete with land used for the production of food," Atienza says.
Widespread jatropha cultivation is fairly new in the Philippines. It is only recently, with the news that jatropha can be a source of biodiesel, that people have started planting larger areas of the crop.
All the more reason, according to Dr Emil Javier, president of the National Academy of Science and Technology, to check out its credentials. "The Philippines should do its homework and conduct thorough research on jatropha and see its viability compared with other alternative crops," he says.
The challenge, believes Achim Dobermann, a scientist from the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute, is to ensure a balance between food and biofuel production. "There is an urgent need to strengthen policy research in order to avoid decisions that may lead to competition between food and bioenergy."
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Imelda V Abano is a freelance reporter based in Bagio, in the northern Philippines. She wrote this article as a result of a fellowship awarded by the Climate Change Media Partnership – a collaboration of Panos, Internews and IIED which supports journalists to investigate climate change issues.
This feature is published by Panos Features and can be reproduced free of charge. Please credit the author and Panos Features and send a copy to External Relations, Panos London, 9 White Lion St, London N1 9PD, UK. Email: media@panos.org.uk
