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resources
In adopting the technology of the Green Revolution and that of the “gene revolution”, indige- nous peasants have had to forsake the agricultural knowledge and technology developed by their
predecessors. In clearing forests and monocropping, they have also been eroding biodioversity both on their farms and in the general environment. In all parts of the world where indigenous
peasants have shifted to monocultures, genetic resources important to long-term food security are fast disappearing.
For example, on the Northern Luzon Cordillera in the Philippines, the indigenous peas- ants have bred more than 300 distinct varieties of rice. A number of these varieties originated
from Kabayan in the province of Benguet, and Hungduan and Kiangan in the province of Ifugao. Kabayan, Hungduan and Kiangan seeds were introduced to many areas of the Cordillera through
traditional seed-exchange mechanisms, and they were cross-bred with varieties indigenous to those areas. The resultant breeds now thrive in other parts of Benguet and Ifugao, and in vari-
ous parts of the Mountain Province and Kalinga. But the parent breeds are now difficult to find
in Kabayan, Hungduan and Kiangan because these areas have recently been integrated into the Cordillera’s Vegetable Belt.
Here, the indigenous peasants now plant vegetable seeds supplied to them by local mer- chants, who source these from agro-input monopolies. These are hybrid seeds of temperate-
clime vegetables which have not adapted to the conditions of the tropical pine ecosystem of the Cordillera Vegetable Belt. The crops can survive only with the application of tremendous
amounts of fungicides, herbicides, vermicides and insecticides.
Potato, cabbage, carrot, green bean, snow pea, or iceberg lettuce is monocropped across thousands of hectares. The soil nutrient imbalance created by monocropping is offset by the
application of tremendous amounts of petrochemical fertilizers and chicken dung. But noth- ing can offset the loss of the rich agricultural biodiversity that has inevitably resulted from the
monocropping.
From 2001 to 2003, the peasants of the Cordillera Vegetable Belt were badly affected by the flooding of the Philippine market with cheap vegetable imports, and many wanted to revert to
traditional diversified subsistence production. But they no longer had access to the plant genetic resources they needed and so were stuck with growing crops which they had no certainty of sell-
ing at prices that could cover their huge, high-input production costs. Only the political pressure
that they and their local officials exerted on the national government to curb vegetable importa- tion could save their families from starvation.
e. Departure from traditional values and disruption of customary relations pertaining to land; increased privatization of resources traditionally held in common
The market has been called the great diluter of values. And their integration in it has caused many indigenous people to lose their traditional regard for land as a resource collectively de-
fended and tended, retained and maintained by their communities for the collective survival and well-being of not only the past and the present but also the future generations of these communi-
ties. To those who have completely lost touch with tradition, the land has become like any other commodity in the market – either an object or an instrument of competition between unrelated
individuals or firms. The land and the other natural resources it holds can be appropriated,
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exploited, mortgaged, sold and purchased by such individuals and firms without thought
of any responsibility towards any common good.
With increasing integration of indig- enous communities into the market econ-
omy, land-resource privatization has also been increasing. In some indigenous peas-
ant communities, it has become possible for individuals to accumulate landed property,
rent this out to fellow community-members who have little or no land of their own, or
hire them to work the property.
f. Migration and human resource deple- tion.
Failure to cope with market demands, or to survive on meager crop shares or wages,
has compelled many individuals and families to leave their home villages and seek em-
ployment or other opportunities elsewhere. In some areas, emigration from the village
has resulted in the depletion of the human resources required to sustain food production by and for the community as a whole.
3. The question of human development
The rationale invariably offered for programs in promoting market-integrated agriculture, or for projects in opening mines, installing power-generation facilities, building roads, granting
timber concessions, clearing land for plantations, or developing tourist resorts in areas occupied by indigenous peoples, is the need for interventions that will propel a nation’s economic growth.
The assumption is that economic growth will generate increased employment and commerce, and thus deliver the masses of the nation’s citizenry from poverty.
Development thinkers, however, point out that economic growth ought not to be regarded as the goal of development; neither should it be considered an adequate instrument of develop-
ment. Development should be geared towards improving the conditions in which human beings live, and this improvement cannot be achieved by simply giving people jobs and other means of
making money. It requires deliberate efforts to provide people with such basic needs as safe and sufficient water and shelter; also with such basic social services as health care, education and
information. These are essential to achieving what the United Nations Development Programme UNDP refers to as “human development”:
Human development is a process of enlarging people’s choices and enhancing their capa- bilities. The process concerns the creation of an enabling environment in which people can
develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. It is a broad concept with as many dimensions as there are ways of enlarg-
ing people’s choices. Among the most basic and critical dimensions are: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. Without these basic dimensions,
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other dimensions such as political freedom, the ability to participate in one’s community, self respect and so on will often remain inaccessible. UNDP 2008: iii.
For many indigenous peoples, programs and projects aimed at propelling the economic growth of the countries they live in have brought about the very opposite of human develop-
ment. These have deprived them of what they already had – i.e., water, food, medicine, clothing, shelter and the means by which to produce or gain access to such necessities. In most cases, the
said programs and projects have also been implemented by denying indigenous peoples their political freedom, their civil liberties, their human rights.
4. The human rights-based approach to development
Increasingly, however, development institutions, such as the UNDP, and funders, such as the European Commission, have adopted a human rights-based approach to development. In rela-
tion to indigenous peoples, this means the promotion of development with due regard for their rights – especially:
• the right to self-determination, including • the right to define their own development concept or model, programs or plans and poli-
cies; • the right to say yes or no to other plans that may affect them;
• the right to land, territory and resources; • the right to their own economic, cultural and socio-political systems;
• their basic civil liberties and human rights.
5. The concept of sustainable development
In textbook terms, economic growth means the production and consumption of increased amounts of goods and services. The production of consumption goods requires the investment
of physical capital, the extraction of raw materials from nature, the use of intermediate materials processed by human hands and the expenditure of more human labor. In the market economy,
profit from the production and sale of goods can be transformed into financial capital for further production and sale, and so on. Thus, economic growth both requires and results in the har-
nessing of ever-increasing amounts of all sorts of resources in a process that is – theoretically – unending.
The earth’s resources are, however, finite. Some resources are renewable – water, a colony of coral, a forest, plants and animals in the water and on land, humus, micro-organisms, etc. But
they cannot be replenished if they are consumed at a rate that is faster than nature has time to regenerate them. And the organisms in an ecosystem are interdependent; some species of plants
and animals cannot be made to thrive again if the other species they depended on have been decimated. It is possible for the earth to regenerate petroleum, coal, even minerals and humic
acid. But this would take at least one geologic era – i.e., several hundred million years. In practi- cal terms, then, these resources are non-renewable.
The capacity of human beings to endure exploitation is also finite. In earlier times, it was possible for one people or its ruling class to exploit other peoples and classes for generations.
Since ancient times, however, human beings have so matured in consciousness of what is right and wrong, just and unjust, that no people or social class would bear continued exploitation by
another people or class for even a single generation.
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