Farmers investing in sustainable land use at a tropical forest fringe, the Philippines

Abstract

A transition from slash-and-burn farming to sustainable land use is essential for the prevention of poverty and the conservation of the rainforest in the Philippine uplands. The key of this transition is that farmers invest in the quality of their land, e.g., through terracing, contour bunding, irrigation facilities, agroforestry or tree plantation. In their turn, these investments depend on a variety of factors, such as the households’ socioeconomic and agro-ecological conditions. This chapter presents an econometric analysis of the determinants of households’ investments in land quality in the Philippines. A logit model of investments is formulated using the information generated from an in-depth household survey of 104 households randomly selected in four upland villages located in Luzon, Philippines at varying distance to the major markets of metropolis Manila. The findings show that older household heads have a higher probability of investing in land quality improvement. This is due to ‘lifecycle effects’ on the part of the farmers since they accumulate capital and knowledge as they grow older. Household heads with more knowledge of soil and water conservation techniques, and households with additional, non-farming income are also more likely to invest in land improvements. Significant influence is also observed of village-level characteristics. Contrary to (neo-) Boserupian theory, population density did not appear to have an influence. Traditional upland policies tend to see farmers as destructive agents that must be forced towards sustainable agriculture – usually without much success. As suggested by the research results, many opportunities exist for policies that rather aim to reinforce and spread the positive actions that farmers are already carrying out spontaneously