0249-C1
Romulo T. Aggangan[1], Rogelio C. Serrano, Vellorimo J. Suminguit and Ma. Rowena M. Baltazar
The Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program for Southeast Asia (SANREM CRSP/SEA) is a USAID funded project that aims to implement a comprehensive, farmer-participatory, interdisciplinary research, training and information exchange program that will elucidate and establish the principles of sustainable agriculture and natural resource management on a landscape scale.
Its objectives include:
1) identifying and describing problems relating to sustainability using farmers’ and community members’ goals and perspectives;
2) identifying and collating existing biophysical and socioeconomic baseline data including relevant indigenous knowledge, and determining the need for additional baseline data collection;
3) collecting and integrating additional physical, biological and socioeconomic baseline data;
4) recognizing and understanding the cultural, socioeconomic, political and institutional framework;
5) improving understanding of important ecosystem processes and critical ecosystem linkages in a landscape setting;
6) developing and evaluating viable management strategies for achieving sustainability in agriculture and natural ecosystems;
7) promoting education, training and information exchange in sustainability issues; and
8) determining ways to influence decision-making processes.
The approaches employed by the workplans and partner researchers/research institutions in the program are focused on soils, water and biodiversity. Since its implementation, SANREM has created the Lantapan Natural Resources Management and Development Plan (NRMDP), replicated the Lantapan NRMDP process, mobilized people, established home gardens for biodiversity conservation and landcare approaches for soil and water conservation. SANREM had its Phase I implementation (1993-1997) and is currently in its five-year Phase II (1998-2003) implementation.
Increased land use for residential and agricultural purposes made the uplands vulnerable target of farmers for source of income and livelihood via agricultural production. Hence, this endangered the environment with forest degradation, soil erosion, water siltation and pollution, to name a few.
In response to this, the U.S. Congress created Collaborative Research Support Programs or CRSPs in 1975 under Title XII of the International Development and Food Assistance Act. The Act mandates, “improving the participation of the agriculturally related universities in the United States’ governmental efforts internationally to increase world food production and provide support to the application of science to solving developing countries’ food and nutrition problems.” CRSPs are communities of U.S. Land Grant universities working with national agricultural research systems in developing countries, International Agriculture Research Centers, U.S. agribusinesses, private organizations, college and universities in developing countries, USAID and other federal agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Policymakers and governments around the world have identified the interface between the growing demand for food and protection of the environment as the overarching challenge of the 21st century. The USAID recognized that the increase pressures on vulnerable soil, water, genetic, human and economic resources have affected food production and supply that resulted in famine and social and political unrest. The Brundtland Commission and the 1992 Earth Summit exemplified a growing awareness of these disturbing trends. In response to these compelling problems, the USAID asked the National Research Council’s Board on Agriculture and the Board on Science and Technology for International Development for recommendations for action. A panel of representatives from these boards made suggestions that led to the creation of SANREM. USAID signed a cooperative agreement with a consortium of U.S. land-grant universities led by the University of Georgia in 1992 to establish a 10-year global program.
The mission of SANREM CRSP is to implement a comprehensive, farmer-participatory, interdisciplinary research, training, and information exchange program that will elucidate and establish the principles of sustainable agriculture and natural resource management on a landscape scale.
During the early stage of the program, SANREM used Participatory Landscape-Lifescape Appraisal (PLLA) to understand the research priorities of different stakeholders in the Manupali Watershed. PLLA is a type of Rural Rapid Appraisal (RRA) that uses the landscape as a unit of analysis. It is a research method that allows interdisciplinary participation of physical and social scientists with farmers identifying social and environmental problems, thereby setting the agenda for research.
A farmer-participatory approach recognizes local knowledge of the community and facilitates the strengthening of local control over resources. The farmer participatory approach also redefines the relationship between the researcher and the farmer. Research conducted using the farmer-participatory approach accepts farmers as equal participants in the research process, as knowledgeable instructors of indigenous knowledge systems and conservative users of available resources.
The interdisciplinary approach acknowledges that the agricultural or natural resource management practices of the farm family are related not only to the natural resource base and access to technical knowledge but also to the ethnic group, class status, and gender of the resource user. Consequently, research designed to assess the impact of changes in resource management activities must recognize that complex interactions occurring at the biophysical, agronomic, economic, social, and policy levels often affect these changes.
A landscape approach acknowledges the importance of the ecological, social, economic, and political environment to the activities of the community and the farm family. It also recognizes the importance of resource flows through the landscape and between the landscape and the external environment.
The objectives of SANREM CRSP are as follows:
Identify and describe the problems relating to sustainability using farmers’ and community members’ goals and perspectives;
Identify and collate existing biophysical and socioeconomic baseline data including relevant indigenous knowledge, and determine the need for additional baseline data collection;
Collect and integrate additional physical, biological and socioeconomic baseline data;
Recognize and understand the cultural, socioeconomic, political and institutional framework;
Improve understanding of important ecosystem processes and critical ecosystem linkages in a landscape setting;
Develop and evaluate viable management strategies for achieving sustainability in agriculture and natural ecosystems;
Promote education, training, and information exchange in sustainability issues; and
Determine ways to influence decision-making processes.
As mentioned earlier, researchers/research institutions in the two phases of the program have employed many different approaches. The projects or workplans being implemented in the program were generally categorized into three, 1) soils, 2) water and 3) biodiversity.
For soils, the workplans focused on sustaining commercial vegetable production, economics of sustainability and farming systems interactions in the Manupali watershed in Lantapan, Bukidnon that is the site of the SANREM CRSP SEA.
For water, the workplans focused on water resource management and education, development of sustainable production systems, optimization of land-use through water quantity and quality modeling, and automatic weather stations.
The biodiversity workplans focused on buffer zone resource management plan, ethnoecology of the Manupali watershed, community based pest management, and contribution of home gardening to biodiversity conservation and household nutrition.
The workplans were crosscutting in that, they not only covered issues on development as well as gender, geographic information systems and data management, among others.
The different SANREM workplans implemented in Phase I and are ongoing in Phase II yielded a variety of impacts as follows.
The development of the Lantapan Natural Resources Management and Development Plan (NRMDP) was a result of SANREM’s intensive promotion for heightened awareness of local sustainability issues as well as development for new partnerships. It served as a highly effective catalyst for new partnerships among researchers, development professionals, community members and especially local leaders.
The Lantapan NRMDP was highly commended in that this was validated by other local government units who became highly appreciative and supportive of the research thus resulting in the different municipalities’ creation of their natural resources management and development plan or NRMDPs and municipal land use plans (MLUPs) in response to SANREM initiatives to institutionalize environmental concerns in local policies. To date, municipalities with their NRMDPs approved at the local and provincial levels include Manolo Fortich, Libona, Impasugong and Baungon, to name a few.
The program has also contributed to the implementation of the Philippine Agenda 21, generated environment-friendly and culturally sensitive technologies, and promoted environmental awareness and good health as exemplified in the water monitoring and evaluation.
The SANREM CRSP Southeast Asia also contributed to watershed management and protection through local community development with its participatory research process via people mobilization, local capability building, and community organization coupled with heightened environmental awareness.
The promotion of agroforestry systems technology as part of SANREM workplan as implemented by the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) gave birth to the Agroforestry Trees Seeds Association of Lantapan (ATSAL). Agroforestry refers to the harmonious combined culture of agricultural crops with woody perennials over a given area to meet the socioeconomic and ecological needs of the community.
Local farmers were inspired to organize themselves into a seed production association following their participation in a SANREM-facilitated workshop on tree seed collection, handling and diffusion practices. Starting with only nine members in 1998, ATSAL now boasts of more than 65 members. In addition, it has women groups that are active in the association’s undertakings such as tree seed collection and nursery management, among others.
SANREM’s training initiatives on conservation farming and
multiple cropping practices, identification, collection and processing methods
and techniques of quality tree seeds, and decentralized nursery establishment
and management benefited the ATSAL members. They now earn more in cash and
conserve genetic resources compared to the past when they solely depended on
corn farming without taking any measures to check soil erosion. Applying what
they learned, the association so far earned about P1.8 M with
70% of the income going back to the members, 10% as revolving fund for the
association, and 20% for marketing expenses.
From its establishment, ATSAL has scaled up its activities in less than a year to the municipal, provincial, national and even international levels. Hence, farmers’ lives were uplifted while the environment is being conserved and protected.
Likewise, a SANREM trained water quality monitoring teams created a community water watch group called the Tigbantay Wahig (Water Watchers). Their goal is to improve their ability to inform the community and influence local policy on matters of water quality. To date, the Tigbantay Wahig continues to monitor and evaluate water quantity and quality in the Manupali and even to other provinces. Their membership also continues to increase. Another group inspired by the Tigbantay Wahig was formed, the Maitum Munong El in Saranggani Province. Results of their environmental monitoring are inputted to local policy development and action oriented programs.
Recently, the Tigbantay Wahig’s efforts, which are all voluntary, have recently been rewarded when the group’s accumulated data were heard by the Municipal Government of Lantapan for high priority action.
The SANREM program also concentrates on contributing to the education of next generation of scientists, planners and policy makers. These are being achieved through the implementation strategy and specific activities undertaken by the program such as sustainable agriculture and natural resource management research, capacity building and training, and regional networking and information management.
In situ collection of culturally significant plants were established in three public schools with the collaboration of administrators, teachers, pupils, and parents. Communal gardens of food, medicinal fiber, and ritual plants were established in the Tulogan (the Talaandig sacred grounds) around the school of Living Traditions.
Landcare approach is a growing movement on soil and water conservation for improved crop productivity in Mindanao, Southern Philippines as promoted by the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) under SANREM CRSP/SEA. The approach originated in Australia and involves aggressive community organizing and networking coupled with strong information, education campaign (IEC) and technology transfer. This approach promotes love and care for the land both as a personal conviction and lifestyle. It links and rallies different local groups and sectors for the cause of sustainable productivity of agriculture and natural resources.
Aside from strategic skills development, Landcare promotes practical technologies like the natural vegetative strips (NVS), agroforestry and tree farming. Natural vegetative strips consist of naturally growing grasses like Imperata cylindrica and Saccharum spontaneum. NVS functions like the double hedgerows in sloping agricultural land technology (SALT). It arrests eroding soil and through time causes the formation of terraces, which make crop production more suitable with better yield.
Landcare approach was initiated in Mindanao in 1998 and today there are over three thousand community organizations involved with it and who are employing soil and water conservation practices for sustained agricultural productivity in the Manupali watershed, in particular and in the Mt. Kitanglad Range.
SANREM CRSP Southeast Asia had its Phase I implementation from 1993 to 1997 and is currently in its five-year Phase II implementation. The learning’s gained from SANREM CRSP Southeast Asia implementation particularly to watershed management and protection include the following:
1. Participatory approach to research design and implementation is an effective means to transfer information and technology to and among farmers.
2. Solutions to agricultural and NRM problems are not necessarily confined among scientists. These could come out from the farmers themselves given the proper venue and atmosphere.
3. Landscape-lifescape approach to R&D humanizes the technology generation and transfer process while enhancing friendliness to the watershed environment.
4. Interdisciplinary and intersectoral teamwork is rather difficult, time consuming and costlier, but result is holistic and more long lasting.
5. The local government unit can be effective in NRM so long as they are properly motivated, trained and technically assisted.
Coxhead, I.; G. Buenavista, (Eds.) Seeking sustainability: Challenges of agricultural development and environmental management in a Philippine watershed. Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines: PCARRD, 2001. Pp. 258-262, 265-267.
Fact Sheet. SANREM CRSP. Watkinsville, Georgia, USA.
Nazarea, V.D; Rhoades, R.; Burton, L.E. Ethnoecology of the Manupali Watershed: Phase I Report. SANREM CRSP/Southeast Asia.
Neely, C.; Buenavista, G.; Earl, J. (Eds.) Looking back on the landscape: Impacts and lessons from the SANREM CRSP. Watkinsville, Georgia, USA: SANREM CRSP.
SANREM CRSP/SEA Update. ATSAL-Uplifting Lives While Protecting the Environment. Vol.1 No.2, Oct 2000-Jan 2001, p.1&4.
Serrano, R.C.; Sustaining Productivity Of Upland Agriculture In The Philippines: Experiences, Policy Linkages, Impacts And Lessons Learned. Paper delivered at the International Seminar on Integration of Agricultural and Environmental Policies in an Environmental Age held in Seoul, Korea on August 20-25, 2001.
| [1] Forestry and Environment
Research Division, PCARRD, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. Tel: #
63 49 536 0014 to 536 0020; Fax # 63 49 536 0016 or 536 0132; Email: [email protected];
[email protected]
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