Growership arrangement seen as ‘a scheme to perpetuate poverty’

Banana farming, particularly of the export variety Cavendish bananas, has long been touted as one of the most lucrative agri-ventures one can enter into. For thousands of former plantation workers who became CARP beneficiaries in Davao del Norte, this was certainly the expectation. After decades of tilling the land, many harbored dreams of, if not prosperity, then maybe at least an improvement over their previous economic situation. They were, after all, to become "landowners" and in the Filipinos' mind this means progress.

In an interview published in the "Farm News and Views," the quarterly publication of the Philippine Peasant Institute, Escolastico Peres of the Tanglaw Growers Association said they were "enticed to join the program because of the successful experience of the growers from the nearby barangay who entered into a contract with the company. Little did the farmers know that it would be a losing venture after three years." Many more land reform beneficiaries suffered the same fate.

In Bagongon, Compostela Valley banana farmers complain of the same things. "Pakiramdam namin niloloko lang kami ng kompanyang bumibili ng saging sa amin. Minsan may mga deductions sa bayad na hindi namin alam kung saan napupunta. Walang transparency," says Mang Jose, one of the leaders of the farmers cooperative there.

In most cases like this, the common culprit is the "growership" arrangement that the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) entered into with the former plantation owners. According to a research paper titled "A Search for an Acceptable Model of Banana Production among Banana Producers", growership arrangements have the following characteristics: (a) ARBs are contracted to grow a certain crop, in this case bananas, for the investor; (b) ARBs provide labor and use of land; (c) the investor handles technical supervision and production control while ARBs shoulder the cost of production inputs; and (d) the company becomes the sole buyer and in-charge of marketing and produce.

Based on this arrangement, growers, since they are required to sell their produce to only one company, are under the mercy of the investor. In fact, in extreme cases it is no better than the government monopolies prevalent during the Spanish regime.

"In growership arrangement in banana plantations the growers will always be at a disadvantage," says Dr. George Reyes, of the Mindanao Agri Institute. "This is because the buyers control the export market and since the local market for Cavendish bananas is virtually nil (growers), have no other recourse but to sell them to the company."

Additionally, Dr. Reyes explains that since the shelf life of the Cavendish variety is so short, the window for disposing the fruit is likewise very small and "even a delay of one day in harvesting could prove disastrous."

Among the most vocal opponents of the growership arrangement is Koronado Apuzen, president of the Federation of Banana Cooperatives. According to Apuzen, the growership set-up or "contract growing" with multinational companies is a "scheme to perpetuate poverty" and announced that his group is poised to break free from contract-growing agreements that have bound their cooperatives to multinational companies, during dialogue with the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Ironically, despite the any drawbacks in the growership arrangement in banana plantations, it is still the preferred mode by the Department of Agrarian Reform when it comes to post-CARP land use scenarios.

To DAR officials, growership emdodies the true "spirit of land reform" because it gives the ARBs total control over their landholdings. "Let’s look at it from the viewpoint of empowerment of our farmworkers. You want them to be able to chart their own destiny, says Undersecretary Efren Moncupa of DAR. However, despite the well-meaning intentions of DAR, most banana plantation farmworkers who are potential ARBs prefer to steer clear of growership arrangements and choose instead the "lease back" option provided for in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).

One such group that chose this course of action and is now enjoying prosperity is the Davao Marsman Development Cooperative (DAMARDEVCO) based in Tagnanan, Davao del Norte. The cooperative has 761 members, each with 1.2 hectares. Under the lease back deal with the Marsman plantation, each ARB not only gets to own the land, they also retained their employee-employer relationship with all the benefits and privileges under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Says coop members, leaseback is preferable because it provides security while the ARBs are still preparing for a sustainable future. "Ano naman ang gagawin namin sa isang hektaryang saging kung wala naman kaming mapag-bibentahan? Sa leaseback, sigurado ang pamilya namin habang naghahanda kami sa aming kinabukasan."