2. COUNTRY PROFILE

2.1 Geography and Demography
2.2 Climate
2.3 Administrative Regions and Provinces
2.4 General Economy
2.5 Land and Water Resources
2.6 Per caput Food Supply and Consumption
2.7 Agriculture, Fishery, and Aquaculture Production
2.8 Medium-Term Agricultural Development Plan of the Philippines

2.1 Geography and Demography

The Philippines is a tropical country consisting of 7,107 islands lying between 4.23°N and 21.25°N and between 116°E and 127°E longitude (Figure 1). The boundaries are Bashi Channel (North), Sulu and Celebes Seas (South), Pacific Ocean (East), and South China Sea (West). From north to south the islands stretch for 1,840 km and from east to west for 1,104 km. The country has a total land mass of 300,439 km² with 11 main islands representing more than 95% of the total area. The islands are geographically divided into three main areas, namely Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao (Figure 1).

Only 2,000 islands of the archipelago are inhabited. There are 111 linguistic, cultural and racial groups, of which over 36 are major ethnic groups scattered throughout the archipelago. The relative isolation provided by the islands has made ethnic regionalism evident to this day. About 10% of the population are designated as cultural minorities of which 60% are Muslim Filipinos, mainly living on the southern part of Mindanao and the Sulu islands. The other minorities inhabit the mountain provinces of Northern and Central Luzon, and the highland plains, rain forests and isolated seashores of Mindanao and Palawan.

The national language is Tagalog, although another 70 languages and dialects of Malayo-Polynesian origin are also currently spoken. Throughout the islands, English is widely spoken as a second language. The Philippines is a predominantly Roman Catholic country (82%) and is the only Christian nation in Asia. Islam however is an established religion in the south and dates back before the Spanish arrival. The modern era of the Philippines dates from Spain’s arrival to the archipelago in 1521. Prior to its “discovery,” what is now known as the Philippines was a group of neighbouring islands of basically Malay inhabitants and ruled by small sultanates and kingdoms lacking any centralized power. The islands became a colony of Spain for the next three centuries until 1898, when the country was ceded to America through the Treaty of Paris. The country gained its independence from America in 1946. With the long influence of Western cultures in the Philippines, the country is sometimes regarded as the least oriental of orientals.

In 1995 the country had an estimated population of 70.3 million growing at an annual rate of 2.4%. Some nine million of the population is concentrated in Metro Manila while other major cities are Davao, Cebu, Zamboanga, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, and Iloilo (Figure 2). Tables 1 and 2 outline the country’s human resources and regional population distribution, respectively, while Figure 3 presents the top 15 provinces with the highest population density.

2.2 Climate

The climate in the Philippines can be broadly divided into four types which run from north to south following the direction of most of the country’s mountain ranges (Figure 4):

Type I. Two pronounced seasons: dry from November to April, wet during the rest of the year. All the regions on the western part of the islands of Luzon, Mindoro, Negros and Palawan are of this type.

Type II. No dry season: very pronounced maximum rainfall from November to January. Covers Catanduanes, Sorsogon, eastern part of Albay, eastern and northern parts of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, and a great portion of eastern Mindanao.

Type III. Seasons are not very pronounced: relatively dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year. Regions of this type are western parts of Cagayan, Isabela, and Nueva Viscaya; eastern parts of Mountain Province, southern Luzon, Masbate, Romblon, Panay, eastern Negros, central and southern Cebu; part of northern Mindanao; and most of eastern Palawan.

Type IV. Rainfall more or less evenly distributed throughout the year. Affects Batanes province, northeastern Luzon, southwestern part of Camarines Norte, western parts of Camarines Sur and Albay, Bondoc Peninsula, eastern Mindoro, Marinduque, western Leyte, northern Cebu, Bohol, and most of central, eastern, and southern Mindanao.

2.3 Administrative Regions and Provinces

To date, the Philippines consist of 75 provinces, 61 cities, 1,532 municipalities and 41,322 barangays (the barangay is the basic unit of the Philippine political system, consisting of not less than 1,000 inhabitants residing within the territorial limit of a city or municipality and administered by a set of elective officials). The provinces are grouped administratively into 16 regions. Luzon in the north comprises of seven regions: the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) where the capital Manila is located, Region I (Ilocos), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Region II (Cagayan Valley), Region III (Central Luzon), Region IV (Southern Tagalog), and Region V (Bicol). Tightly packed in the centre of the country are the Visayan chain of islands: Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Panay, Masbate, Samar and Leyte. These are divided into three regions, namely: Region VI (Western Visayas), Region VII (Central Visayas), and Region VIII (Eastern Visayas). To the south is Mindanao island consisting of six regions: Region IX (Western Mindanao), Region X (Northern Mindanao), CARAGA Region, Region XI (Southern Mindanao), Region XII (Central Mindanao), and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Business and commercial activities are inevitably linked with the country’s regional divisions. Whenever applicable, information presented in this Atlas were made on a regional perspective. CARAGA is a new region which was only formed in 1993 (from Region IX and Region XI), and as such was not included in the data presentation as a great deal of important statistical information from the region was not yet available. However, data for CARAGA, when available, was instead added back to its parent regions. The discussions that follow are based on the 15 regions (Figure 5).

2.4 General Economy

The year 1994 saw the Philippine economy performing stronger with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) registering US$ 63,848 million (unless otherwise indicated, all exchange rates for Philippine peso against US$ are based on Appendix 5). GDP grew by 4.28% compared to the previous year and was the highest growth achieved since 1990; also during this period inflation fell below 10% (Figure 6). The agriculture, fishery and forestry industry groups continue to be the dominant sector of the Philippine economy, accounting for 22% of the GDP, 46% of the total employment, and around 13% of the total export revenues. The sector also generated much of the vital raw materials and domestic demand on which the industrial and service sectors depend.

Exports in 1994 reached US$ 13,483 million. Agricultural products accounted for 9.74% of the total external trade, while minerals, fishery products, and forestry products amounted to 6.80%, 2.81%, and 0.4%, respectively. Imports during the same year were US$ 21,334 million representing a trade deficit of (-)US$ 7,850 million. The country has an outstanding debt of US$ 39.8 billion, or approximately 62% of the GDP. The national accounts, foreign trade, and GDP by industry group are summarized in Tables 3, 4, and 5.

The fishery sector in 1994 contributed 17.7% to the gross value added (GVA) in agriculture, as compared to 8.3% for poultry, 12.1% for livestock, 56.1% for agricultural crops, and 1.3% for forestry. Compared to 1985, the poultry sector in 1994 attained the highest growth of 219.8%, followed by 188.8% for livestock, 82.1% for agricultural crops, and 71.4% for fisheries. Forestry on the other hand decreased by 62.7% (Table 6).

On a regional basis, the two biggest contributors to the GDP in 1994 were NCR (32.24%) and Region IV (14.98%), while for GVA in agriculture were Regions IV (19.61%), XI (12.55%), VI (10.61%), III (9.30%), and X (8.83%) (Table 7).

Agricultural Exports and Imports

The major agricultural exports of the Philippines are coconut oil, fresh banana, frozen tuna, sugar, canned pineapple, fertilizer, desiccated coconut, copra oil cake/meal, copra, shrimp and coffee (Table 8); over 50% of these products are exported to the US and Japan.

Fishery exports in 1994 amounted to 172 080 mt and were valued at US$ 577,632 million, with shrimp, tuna, and seaweeds being the leading commodities (Table 9). However, fishery imports during the same year totalled 241 194 mt valued at US$ 94 521 million (Table 10); fish meal/flours/pellets for animal feeds accounted for nearly half of the volume and 40% of the value of total fishery imports in 1994. The total fishery production and supply for food use is summarized in Table 11.

2.5 Land and Water Resources

The Philippines has a total land area of 30 million ha of which about 50% is classified as agricultural land. Region IV occupies the biggest land area (15.6%) followed by Region XI (10.6%), Region X (9.4%), Region II (8.9%), and Region VIII (7.1%). The smallest region in land area is Region VII, which comprises of only 5.0% of the total land area. Table 12 presents the land area and agricultural area per region.

Being an archipelago, the country is endowed with a vast expanse of coastal and inland water resources which is approximately seven times larger than its land resources (Table 13). The country has jurisdiction over 220 million ha of marine waters extending from over 17,600 km of coastline. This area encompasses: (a) the archipelagic waters enclosed within the 80 straight baselines drawn from the outermost points of the outermost islands as defined by the Archipelago Concept, (b) the territorial sea as provided in the Treaty of Paris, and (c) the 200 nautical mile marine area which is further classified into the coastal zone (26.6 million ha), the oceanic zone (193.4 million ha), and the shelf area (18.5 million ha) (BFAR, 1994).

The country’s coastal and estuarine resources include 239,323 ha of brackishwater fishponds (operational and abandoned) and 232,065 ha of swamplands. Inland rivers have a total area of around 31,000 ha while freshwater lakes have a combined area of approximately 200,000 ha. There are also 14,531 ha of freshwater fishponds, 19,000 ha of reservoirs, and 106,328 ha of freshwater swamplands (Table 13). The ten largest lakes in the Philippines cover a total area of about 189,048 ha, with Laguna de Bay (89,076 ha) accounting for nearly half of this area (Table 14).

2.6 Per caput Food Supply and Consumption

Based on the 1992 Food Balance Sheet of the Philippines (National Statistical Coordination Board, unpublished data), the country has a per caput food supply of 389.8 kg/y with a calorie value of 2,501.2/day and a protein and fat level of 68.4 g/day and 46.6 g/day, respectively (Table 15). The population’s primary cereal food is rice, although corn is also popularly eaten as a staple food in the south. Per caput food supply of rice is 90.0 kg/y while that of corn (milled grits and products) is 15.1 kg/y. Fish and other marine products provide the primary source of protein with an annual per caput supply of 36.7 kg. By contrast, the supply of other meats amount to only 27.5 kg/y. The regional retail prices of milkfish, tilapia, round scad (locally known as “galunggong,” which is among the most affordable food fish), chicken, pig, and beef in 1995 and in 1990 are compared in Tables 1 6a and 16b.

The Third National Nutrition Survey (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources - BFAR, 1 995a) reported a per caput consumption of 40 kg/y for fish and fishery products (Table 17). Over 75% of this is consumed fresh while only around 10% is eaten as processed food. On the other hand, the consumption of other meats (excluding dairy products and eggs) was reported to be 16.9 kg/y, with pork amounting to 7.5 kg/y and poultry to 3.3 kg/y.

2.7 Agriculture, Fishery, and Aquaculture Production

Philippine agriculture remains concentrated on a few traditional commodities. The top agricultural crops in terms of area planted, volume produced, and value, are rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane, and banana (Table 18, Figure 7). Other important crops include pineapple, coffee, cassava, and sweet potato. Rice is grown mainly in Regions II, III, IV, and VI, and corn in Regions II, X, XI, XII, and ARMM. Coconut is a primary crop in Regions IV, IX, and XI, while production of sugarcane and banana are focused within Regions VI and XI, respectively (Table 19),

Poultry and pigs are popularly farmed throughout the islands. The total chicken population (broiler, layer, gamefowl, native/improved) in 1994 was 63.10 million heads while for pigs was 8.23 million heads (Table 20). During the same year, the goat, carabao, cattle, and duck population was estimated at 2.6, 2.6, 1.9 and 8.1 million heads. The regional livestock and poultry inventories are included in Table 20.

The total volume of fishery production in 1994 was 2,686,000 mt and valued at US$ 3,074.85 million; of this, 70% of the total volume and 57% of the total value was derived from capture fisheries, with the balance coming from aquaculture (Figures 8a and 8b). However, whereas capture fisheries production increased by only 21.7% between 1985 and 1994 (Figure 9), aquaculture production grew by 59.8%.

Total aquaculture production in 1994 was 791,444 mt, of which 51% is seaweed while the rest is mainly finfish and shrimp (43.5%); bivalves and other crops constitute less than 6% (Figure 10a). The most important finfish and crustacean species cultured are milkfish (Chanos chanos), tilapia (mainly Oreochromis niloticus, and to a lesser extent O. mossambicus), and black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon); these species representing 19.8%, 11.9%, and 11.4% of total aquaculture produce in 1994 (Figure 10b). Table 21 outlines the major cultured species per region. Minor cultured species include catfish (Clarias gariepinus, Pangassius suchii), carps (Cyprinus carpio, Aristhyctis nobilis), mudcrab (Scylla serrata), oyster (Crassostrea spp.), and mussel (Perna viridis).

Various types of farming systems are used for fish and shrimp production, with the dominant culture system being brackishwater pond culture, followed by freshwater cage and pen culture. The Philippines has a total operational brackishwater fishpond area of around 200,000 ha, and in 1994 these ponds yielded 67% of the total cultured fish and crustacean production, while freshwater cage and pen culture produced 11% and 9.0%, respectively. Most of the brackishwater fishponds are located in the provinces of Zamboanga, Pampanga, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Negros Occidental, Capiz, and Iloilo. Freshwater tilapia cage culture is popular and widespread in Taal Lake, several small volcanic lakes in Laguna Province, Lake Sebu, Magat Dam, and Pantabangan Dam (Figure 12). The country’s pen-based freshwater milkfish culture is unique to the 90,000 ha Laguna Lake and is the biggest of its kind in the world. Table 22 provides a summary of the brackishwater, freshwater, and marine farming operations per province while Figures 11 and 1 2 present the geographical location of regional farming centres (note: the brackishwater pond area presented in Tables 13 and 22 differ by around 60,000 ha - the lower estimates being from BAS while the higher figures from BFAR which was originally the agency mandated to gather fisheries data; for the purpose of this Atlas an average figure of 200,000 ha of operational farms was adopted). For details on the culture practices employed, the reader is referred to Section 5.

2.8 Medium-Term Agricultural Development Plan of the Philippines

A key objective for the Philippine Government’s Medium-Term Agricultural Development Plan (MTADP) for 1993-1998 is to enable the country to produce high-class products for the world market and for these products to compete on an even footing with imports in the domestic market. The Plan adopts the Key Production Area (KPA) development approach which draws from the experience of Newly Industrialized Countries in Asia, particularly Taiwan and South Korea, where a modernized agricultural sector provided the base for industrialization.

The KPA approach identifies and focuses Government support on certain priority areas whose agro-climatic and market conditions favour producing, processing, and marketing specific crops, livestocks, and fishery products. This would ensure the efficient use of inputs and resources, and promote cost-effectiveness, and profitability of agricultural and fishery enterprises. The Government is allocating US$ 6.85 billion for the MTADP to support various programmes involving technology assistance, research and development, policy reforms, credit support, development of domestic and markets, cooperative self-reliance, rehabilitation and expansion of irrigation systems, and construction of facilities for post-harvest, transport and handling, and marketing. Within the framework of the MTADP is the agrarian reform programme initiated during the previous administration to empower small landless farmers and fisherfolks.

The main elements of the KPA development approach which are relevant to the feed and fertilizer industry are summarized as follows (Department of Agriculture, 1993):

Grains Production Enhancement Program (GPEP)

The aim of GPEP is to concentrate rice farming from 2.5 million ha to 1.2 million ha of irrigated land by 1998. Similarly, corn farming will eventually be concentrated from 2.5 million ha to about 750 000 ha of land ideal for the crop. The development of these Key Grain Areas (KGAs) would in turn free some 1.3 million ha of marginally suitable rice and corn lands for diversification to other crops. The KGAs for rice are located in 34 provinces while for those for corn are located in 17 provinces.

The MTADP envisions increasing the paddy yield from 3.5 mt/ha in 1993 to an average of 5 mt/ha by 1998. The country’s domestic paddy supply is projected to increase from 9.43 million mt to 12.10 million mt by 1998, with the KGAs accounting for 99.17% of the production (from 78.93% in 1993). For corn, yield are programmed to increase from an average of 3.25 mt/ha/crop to 5 mt/ha/crop. This in turn would raise national corn production from 4.80 million mt in 1993 to 7.00 million mt by 1998.

Medium-Term Livestock Development Program (MTLDP)

The programme seeks to lay the foundation for a productive, efficient, economical and sustainable livestock and poultry industry. The priority beneficiaries of the programme are farmers whose crop areas are not covered by GPEP and who belong to livestock cooperatives. The Key Livestock Development Areas (KLDAs) are located in 44 provinces and with existing specific programmes for beef cattle, dairy development, small ruminants (goat and sheep), poultry and pig.

By the year 1 998, the MTLDP aims to:

· increase population of cattle to 3.0 million focused on 38 provinces;

· stabilize population of carabao at 2.5 million heads, with measures to improve the quality of the herd for meat and milk production;

· increase population of small ruminants to 3.4 million;

· increase population of pigs to 10.8 million; and

· increase population of chicken to more than 100 million.

Key Commercial Crops Development Program (KCCDP)

The KCCDP will be implemented in all provinces and will focus on the farming of crops that are of high value and are not intended for home consumption. These include: cavendish banana, pineapple, coffee, tomato, yam, sweet potato, highland vegetables, garlic, onion (bulb), mungbean, mango, papaya, cutflowers, asparagus, passion fruit, white potato, strawberry, cassava, soybean, rubber, cashew, pili, coco, durian, guyabano, sweet corn and baby corn. Under the programme, priority commercial crops that are suitable to the area, comparative advantage, and progressive and viable markets will be promoted and their production intensified.

In particular, the programme hopes to achieve the following objective by 1998:

· diversify 1.3 million ha of marginally suitable rice and corn areas and intensify the use of 1.2 million ha of existing commercial crop areas;

· double existing productivity levels of commercial crops through efficient production methods and the establishment of agro-processing enterprises;

· triple the income of commercial crop farmers;

· increase value of commercial crop exports by an average of 100%; and

· focus the delivery of support services to the 2.5 million ha priority production areas.

The FMDP is designed to enhance the productivity of the country’s fisheries resources. The programme will focus on efforts directed toward the management of specific coastal resources, aquaculture, and lake areas. Coastal resource management will include 24 bays, the water surrounding the islands of Region VII, Sulu archipelago, Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea. The aquaculture management areas cover Regions I, III, IV, V, VI, VII, IX, and ARMM. Lake management areas include Paoay, Naujan, Laguna, Taal, Sebu, Buluan, Lanao, Balut, Darapanan, Dapao, and the seven lakes of San Pablo.

Specifically, the FMDP hopes to attain the following objectives by the year 1998:

· double aquaculture productivity from 1.2 mt/ha/y (1993) to 2.4 mt/ha/y;

· double the number of coastal resource management priority bays and gulfs from the current number of 1 2 to 24;

· improve operating efficiency of the commercial fishing fleet by 7% in line with international standards;

· organize fishery law enforcement and provide support facilities to 50% of coastal municipalities; and

· reduce post-harvest losses by 5% and promote value added products.