Breaking the Cycle of Poverty In Coastal Communities

By Horacio R Morales, Jr.
Secretary, Department of Agrarian Reform
OIC-Lead Convenor, NAPC

Speech before the Conference of Coastal Municipalities of the Philippines, 27 May 1999

Magandang umaga po sa mga kagalang-galang na alkalde na kasama natin dito sa programa na pinamumunuan ng League of Municipalities of the Philippines. Magandang umaga din po sa ibang matataas na opisyal rig pamahalaan na dumadalo sa pacpupulong na ito.

I have been asked to discuss the short and long-term strategies to break the cycle of poverty in coastal communities. The fisherfolk sector is one of fourteen basic sectors identified under the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act. Two laws recently passed also deal wholly or partly with the fisherfolk sector: the Fisheries Code of 1998 and the Agriculture Fisheries and Modernization Act.

President Estrada has identified coastal communities as a priority area for his poverty eradication program. As our first leader for the new Centurv, President Estrada has correctly identified fisheries to be our hope for the next millennium.

Being, an archipelagic country, the Philippines is gifted with enormous water resources. Including our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), our marine waters cover 220 million hectares: 26.6 million hectares of coastal waters and 193.4 million hectares of oceanic water. We also have 840,000 hectares of inland waters.

Our water resources is 7.3 times larger than our land resources of about 30 million hectares. However, our fishing industry accounts for less than 4% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Fisheries only employs over 1 million individuals out of a labor force of 30 million.

The importance of fisheries is not just due to the size of our water resources -- it's also due to the poor state of our land resources. Prime agricultural lands are diminishing due to land conversion. Upland encroachment is proceeding at an alarming rate of 522,000 hectares per year.

Now is the time to exploit and develop further our fishing industry. It should contribute more to our GDP, to employment and livelihood generation and to food and nutrition sufficiency.

Fish is our principal source of protein. It accounts for about 70% of our total animal protein intake and 30% of total protein intake in our diet. Fish is thus a key food security concern.

Under a regime of globalization, the fishing industry is critical for us since it is an area where we can be competitive. We are one of the major fish producing countries in the world. In recent years, we have exported over USD500 million worth of fish products, exceeding imports by almost five times.

CYCLE OF POVERTY

But despite richness of our water resources, we have failed to use it in the service of the masses. Of the total number of individuals who rely on fish for livelihood, municipal fisherfolk constitute 69%; 25% are engaged in aquaculture. Only 6% are involved in commercial fisheries.

Majority of those engaged in municipal fisheries are poor. Municipal fishermen are among the poorest sectors of our society. According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, nearly 40% of coastal communities fall under the category of a fifth class municipality with an annual income of between P 4.8 million. Only 6% are considered first-class municipalities with an annual income of over P 20 million.

Thus, the National Anti-Poverty Commission has identified coastal barangays in priority bays and lakes as one of government's "priority convergence areas" for poverty alleviation.

Coastal fisheries has been under threat from overfishing, destructive fishing, and habitat degradation caused by siltation and pollution. High population growth and poor economic performance have combined to put pressure on our water resources.

Due to the open access of our coastal resources, municipal capture fisheries has become the livelihood of last resort for the poor who do not have land or other assets. There has been a dramatic rise in the number of coastal dwellers. Worse, there is continued encroachment of commercial fisheries in municipal waters.

These increasing, pressures have driven harvest beyond the sustainable production limits. The result is a decline in per capita harvest and quality of catch. With continued resource depletion, this will only lead to more poverty in coastal communities. And as poverty intensifies, it creates greater pressure to resort to overfishing and destructive fishing. This vicious cycle must be broken.

THE STRATEGY

Addressing poverty in coastal communities must therefore be closely linked to reversing the depletion of coastal resources. The key is community involvement in every step of coastal resources management. It must also be a multidimensional approach since poverty encompasses economic, ecological, and human dimensions.

We have adopted a Community-Based Integrated Resource Management and Development Strategy. This has several features:

First we are assisting coastal communities and local government units gain firm control over municipal waters and other open access coastal resources.

Second, we are helping communities and local government units develop sound, viable and enforceable management plans for sustainable use of coastal resources. In addition, we are providing incentives to non-destructive and sustainable use of coastal resources.

Third, we are creating new livelihood opportunities to raise family incomes in coastal communities. In addition, we are providing incentives to non-destructive and sustainable use of coastal resources, its conservation, regeneration and protection.

Fourth, we are increasing awareness of coastal communities on the relationship between poverty and resources depletion, on sustainable use and management of coastal resources, and on citizens' participation.

Fifth, we are institutionalizing mechanisms for coastal resource management that allow maximum participation of local communities.

Sixth, we are supporting research and technology development on policy and management concerns.

Seventh, we are organizing local communities and training local leaders to actively participate coastal resources management.

Eight, we are assessing and monitoring coastal resources to determine appropriate management plans and sustainable harvest levels.

And ninth, we are promoting non-destructive, marine-based alternative livelihood and other supplementary livelihood activities.

In the long run, the Community-Based Integrated Resource Management and Development Strategy is aimed at reducing resource degradation and adjusting harvests to sustainable levels. In the medium-term, it seeks to provide complementary economic activities for coastal communities. It also provides incentives to efforts by coastal communities to protect, regenerate and conserve coastal resources. Assistance to local governments to improve community-based resource management is a key component of the strategy.

This strategy places the coastal community at the center of decision-making and governance. It also links immediate poverty alleviation measures to sustainable management and use of coastal resources. It therefore breaks the vicious cycle of poverty in our coastal communities.

The Fisheries Development Program funded by the Asian Development Bank has found that this strategy works. In areas covered by the program, the strategy was able to reduce poverty levels from 80% in 1989 to 65% in 1995. (Philippines: Promoting Equitable Rural Growth, World Bank, 29 May 1998)

With respect to diversification of income of municipal fisherfolk, the program found that the existence of experienced NGOs, strong community leadership, and adequate provision of credit and technical services are critical factors.

Other important lessons from the Program are the integrated approach that incorporates watershed management in coastal zone management and the institutionalization of Bay Management Councils. Volunteer task forces for enforcement of fisheries laws also need regular funds. There should also be sufficient legal support at the field level to strengthen prosecution and conviction of illegal fishing activities.

The Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, the NGO I headed before I joined government, has had several successful coastal resource management cases, one of which is in Orion, Bataan.

In the municipality of Orion, we demonstrated the effectiveness of community-based coastal resource management strategy. We helped create a resource management council. This institutionalized coordination on coastal resource management among the fisherfolk- organizations in 13 coastal villages of Orion, the local government, NGOs and the Philippine National Police.

The council formulated and implemented a coastal resource management plan. It also built and strengthened coastal protection mechanisms.

Membership in the fishers' federation, SUGPO, covers 75% of the town's fisherfolk. They were the major players in implementing the coastal resources management strategy. They successfully lobbied for municipal ordinances that supported coastal resources management.

SUGPO has 55 fisherfolk leaders, 10 local community organizers, 95 community sentinels, and 106 deputized sea wardens. They exercise various responsibilities in their organizational and resource management systems at the barrio and municipal levels.

At least 250 cases of illegal fishing have been filed in the municipal court of Orion. In 1994, the fishing community was able to establish a fish reserve and sanctuary. They have also established a 600-hectare community-managed marine reserve, built artificial reefs within the reserve, undertaken mangrove reforestation, and piloted a community-managed information system.

An independent study conducted in 1998 by the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) showed that "an effective fisheries co-management arrangement founded on community property rights is in place" in Orion.

The ICLARM study showed that the fisherfolk perceive substantial improvements in allocation of access rights, control over fisheries, participation in fisheries management and community affairs, compliance with rules, collective decision-making in fisheries management and conflict resolution, and knowledge of fisheries and information exchange.

We have learned a lot from the many cases of government and NGOs in coastal resources management. For me, the most important lesson is the need for an effective partnership between and among national government, local governments, private business, and civil society in managing community and habitat.

The next step is to apply this and other lessons in other coastal communities.

Thank you.