The gender dimension of the agrarian transition: women, men and livelihood diversification in two peri-urban farming communities in the Philippines

Abstract

Based on parallel field research conducted in two peri-urban villages in the cities of Naga and Valencia, the Philippines, this article deploys gender analysis to understand livelihood diversification in the context of agrarian change. In analyzing the role of state organizations and NGOs in (re)producing gender differences, hierarchies, roles and identities within agrarian settings, it brings poststructuralist and postcolonial theory into conversation with political economy to explore how gender is at stake in daily livelihood struggles. Specifically, attention is drawn to how structural constraints and institutional discourses still render livelihood diversification a gendered project, and how state and other development organizations are continuing to perpetuate gender inequalities and reinscribe normative gender discourses, particularly around masculinities and women's reproductive roles, in agrarian communities.

Basado en investigación de campo paralela en dos pueblos periurbanos en las ciudades de Naga y Valencia, Filipinas, este artículo lleva a cabo un análisis de género para entender la diversificación de los medios de vida en el contexto del cambio agrario. En el análisis del rol de las organizaciones del estado y ONGs en (re)producir las diferencias de género, las jerarquías, los roles y las identidades en ámbitos agrarios, pone la teoría posestructuralista y poscolonial en diálogo con la economía política para analizar cómo el género está en juego en las luchas cotidianas por los medios de vida. Específicamente, pone atención en cómo las limitaciones estructurales y los discursos institucionales todavía hacen que la diversificación de medios de vida sea un proyecto generizado, y en cómo las organizaciones estatales y otras organizaciones para el desarrollo siguen perpetuando las desigualdades de género y reinscribiendo discursos normativos de género, especialmente acerca de masculinidades y los roles reproductivos de las mujeres en las comunidades agrarias.

Keywords:

• gender
• livelihood diversification
• agrarian change
• agrarian transition
• peri-urbanization
• Philippines

Keywords:

• género
• diversificación de medios de vida
• cambio agrario
• transición agraria
• periurbanización
• Filipinas

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to our contacts and research collaborators in Naga City: Willie Prilles, Director of Planning and Development and his staff; Mayor Jesse Robredo, Vice-Mayor Gabriel Bordado; Heads and staff of the City Agriculture and Social Welfare and Development Offices; Dr Malu Barcillano, Dr Becky Torres and Fr Joel Tabora SJ of Ateneo de Naga University; Mama Jean Llorin; Councilor Mila Raquid Arroyo; Norfe Luces; and Professor Gina Bordado of Camarines Sur State Agricultural College. We also thank MAKAKABUS founders and members, Apollo Pacamalan, the leaders and members of Bukidnon MASIPAG Farmers Multipurpose Co-operative (BMFMC) in Valencia, and Rachel Polestico of SEARSOLIN, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City. Leonora thanks the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada for funding her field research in Manila and Bukidnon and Andrew Lawrence of UBC Centre for Human Settlements for assistance with the maps. Kathryn thanks the Commonwealth Scholarship and SSHRC-Canada's Changing Agrarian Transition in Southeast Asia (CHATSEA) Program for supporting her field research in Naga City.

Notes

 1. A local term for unhusked rice.

 2. Dried fish, typically eaten with rice.

 3. MAKAKABUS is the acronym for Malahutayong Kahiusahan sa Kababayen-an Bukidnon (Unity of Women in Bukidnon).

 4. This is most notable in Gender and Development (GAD) analytical tools like the Harvard Framework and writings like Rocheleau, Thomas-Slayter and Wangari (1996).

 5. We are very grateful to these individuals, particularly Willie Prilles of City Planning, Councilor Mila Raquid Arroyo, and Mama Jean Llorin. The primary author also works with administrators of the Ateneo de Naga University and the Camarines Sur State Agricultural College (CSSAC) in curriculum and instructional skills development.

 6. Unlike Naga which has attained first-class city status based on revenue, Valencia remains a poorer fourth-class city, given its lower revenue base and population level.

 7. The first author was the instructor of this month-long course, PLAN 548H – Planning Studio in the Philippines – taken by the second author in May to June 2007. The course was offered at the School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia in cooperation with the City of Naga Government and the Ateneo de Naga University.

 8. Since 1986 nearly one-third of the country's annual budget has been appropriated for debt repayment, leaving almost nothing for productive investments and social services (see Borras 2007, 152).

 9. In 2006 alone, almost 60% of GDP growth was contributed by the service industry, while 7–10% of the Philippine population is now estimated to be residing overseas, providing 10–15% of the country's GDP, or US$8–12 billion (Borras 2007, 153).

10. Though too numerous to detail here, particular participatory governance initiatives include the institutionalization of the city's partnership with the private sector through the passage of an Empowerment Ordinance (1995), and the creation of the Women's Development Agenda (2002). The former gives legal identity to the Naga City People's Council, an amalgamation of non-governmental and people's organizations representing women, the poor and other perceivably ‘disadvantaged’ sectors. The latter is part of a series of structures accounting for the questions and concerns of women.

11. Interview, 2 August 2007 in Hill (2008, 49).

12. Interview, 22 June 2007 in Hill (2008, 44).

13. The word masipag means hardworking in Tagalog. As an acronym, MASIPAG stands for Magsasaka at Siyentipiko Para sa Siyentipikong Agrikultura, or Farmers and Scientists for Scientific Agriculture.

14. Limited marketing skills of Co-op members were further compounded by narrow domestic market for organic rice and fertilizer, low purchasing power of the rural and urban poor, lack of distribution outlets, and pricing of organic produce at 10–20% higher than non-organic products. The landlocked location of Valencia City, requiring a four-hour trip by land to the distribution capital of Cagayan de Oro City, also means higher transportation costs for farmers and middlemen.

15. Interview with MAKAKABUS member in Sitio Bagong Silang, Sinayawan,Valencia, 18 July 2001.

16. Interview with MAKAKABUS leader, Valencia, 18 July 2001.

17. For example, they created the position of Secretary-Treasurer for each of the four activity departments, i.e. Livelihood, Organic Fertilizer, Equipment, and Lending, when having a single treasurer for the whole organization was no longer effective.

18. Interview, 28 June 2007 in Hill (2008, 2).