Land reform not the answer

My column on the country’s land reform program – described by Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan as a success – attracted various comments from a number of readers. An agricultural economist puts forward his long-held position that public lands should be consolidated, and their fruits divided among the tenants. Another reader proposes that instead of land reform, the government should pour its resources on the fishery sector.

Saeed A. Daof, secretary general of the Center for the Promotion of Peace and Development, writes:

"Why has land reform‚ brought so much controversy in the Philippines in spite of the many positive and be-neficial effects that it has brought about in achieving economic and political stability in the country during the mid-50’s and early 60’s – and maybe in recent years?

"Well, this should not be a surprise because the past and present generations of government policy makers and implementors may have failed or refused to adopt their policies to suit the changing landscape of the local and global economy. In spite of the advances in techno-logy and incisive advocacy and arm-twisting tactics‚ by developed countries towards globalization, the government is still sticking to the policy of generalizing land reform throughout the country. What agricultural interests or policies are we trying to protect against deve-loped countries when we seem to have reluctantly accepted the fact that it is cheaper to buy (import) onions, garlic and even vegetables from China or cheap processed chickens from the United States or Australia, and so why bother to produce? Is it not a logical reason to believe that because we destroyed our agricultural economic scale, our policy makers know – but will not admit – that it is impossible for us to compete now because our cost of production is way out of line from other producers abroad? This is not because we do not have the land area to produce what we need and could probably produce for export. But what we lack is the agricultural economics of scale and proper planning of the agricultural development process to pursue because we have indiscriminately fragmented lands all over the country. In short, what our government is pursuing is more of a political solution than an economic solution. Why not designate or appropriate lands that could be used for massive agricultural integration and industrialization?

"I am not saying that the Land Reform Code is outmoded. Nor that the Land Reform Code is evil. I know that the small farmers deserve a break. They must be helped, and should have a sense of security. But our po-licy makers and implementors must be astute to recognize that merely transferring land titles from landlords to tenants does not ensure maintenance or increase of agricultural productivity. Nor does it ensure that owning a piece of land by the farmers will ensure the farmers a better way of life. What with the billions and billions of delayed payments in the land-buying spree of the government? As a matter of fact, because of the loss of economic scale of most of our prime agricultural lands, our agricultural industries have remained static and way behind our neighbors.

"This brings us to the question as to what is the rationale of an economic policy that is so impervious to economic change – like the past and present import substitution‚ policy that has been in our midst for more than two or three generations. As it is, it is our own government which is shooting our agricultural economy in the foot by destroying our ability to mass-produce agricultural based semi-finished and finished export products when we indiscriminately fragment our lands.

"We do not need to send our bright boys abroad to study the effects of land fragmentation into small un-economic-sized units. Or if such fragmentation is a ne-cessary evil‚ to achieve political stability as it definitely buys votes in the country side, our economic policy makers, planners and implementors must have that acumen to innovate adjustments. They must not destroy the remaining tracks of lands where agricultural economic scales can be harnessed and implemented.

"The government should invest in bankable studies that will provide farmers with security of ownership and they must also be receptive to the idea of adhering to development plans‚ that use and harness agricultural economic scale. As I had told the late President Marcos – who fired me because I was frank and honest in telling him so – "For as long as the Filipino farmers are tilling their farms behind wooden plows and carabaos, we will never be able to attain satisfactory agricultural integration and industrialization."

"Look at what developed countries did, they amalgamated first their agricultural lands into economic-sized farms, and this facilitated and accelerated agricultural integration and industrialization. They did not divide the lands, but instead, they divided the fruits of the lands with the help of advanced technology and management.

"Our policy makers have destroyed the advantage of harnessing the economics of scale in marshalling systematic agricultural development plans and programs. They divide lands instead of the fruits of the land. They embark on a massive agricultural land procurement spree, which unfortunately, they do not have the resources or capacity to pay ON TIME."

From Iloilo, Rodolfo Sarrosa expresses fear that land reform "may hamper the growth of the nation and further impoverish our country. Why? The national go-vernment has limited resources. Putting so much investment on land reform is not good investment. Dividing farm lots into small scales is not economically viable. For example, a farmer given two hectares of land can hardly produce a net income of P40,000. Assuming he does, he will not be able to feed his family of four children properly nor give them a college education. After ten years, when the children are marrying, it is likely that the two hectares would be converted into residential lots.

"We should invest our limited public funds on projects which provide a steady income for our people. Hindi lang pa pogi-pogi investments. I am part of the fishery sector, a sector neglected compared to the agricultural sector. What is happening is that our fishing grounds are being destroyed by illegal fishing and erosion because of wrong methods and over-population. The destruction of our coral reefs is costing millions of persons annually. If you look at the commercial fishing industry, it is dominated by foreigners – because of the continued neglect of the government. "

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