When Farmers Become Casualties of Low Tariffs

Cabakan City, located in the Mindanao river basin, must contend with both drought and flooding. The area is crisscrossed by waterways and sits on low-lying ground, making it perennially vulnerable to floods. According to reports, the floods last July affected 5,185 households and more than 15,000 mu of agricultural land in Cabakan.

After our visit to the municipal hall, Robin escorted us to Barangay Cuyapon, a village under the city’s jurisdiction. He explained that the flooded 15,000 mu of land included parts of Cuyapon and neighbouring villages. The waterlogged rice paddies saw their yields plummet, leaving local officials scratching their heads.

II. Soaring Prices for Essentials: Who Reaps the Profits?

I shook my head. Robin clarified that ‘unli’ is short for the English word ‘unlimited’, so ‘unli rice’ simply means unlimited rice. “When we eat rice at a restaurant, we tend to eat more than we do at home, just to make sure we get our money’s worth. Filipinos simply love rice too much; we never tire of having it with every single meal.”

Data shows that in 2023, the Philippines recorded a per capita rice consumption of 151.3 kg, more than double the figure for China in the same period. Scholars such as Huang Zongzhi argue that since the 1980s, China has undergone an ‘implicit agricultural revolution’, directly driven by a shift in dietary patterns: as incomes rose, the ratio of grain, vegetable, and meat consumption among Chinese residents shifted from 8:1:1 to 4:3:3. Put simply, people are eating less staple food.

Yet in the Philippines, rice remains the go-to staple for filling bellies. According to the Department of Agriculture, spending on rice accounts for nearly 10 per cent of a Philippine household’s budget, a figure that can reach 20 per cent for impoverished families.

A report by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) notes that those in lower-income brackets consume 7.1 kg more rice per person annually than their wealthier counterparts, while rural residents eat 11.47 kg more than those in urban areas. The poorer Filipinos are, the more indispensable rice becomes to them—a reality that perhaps reveals the deeper meaning behind ‘unli rice’.

The trajectory of events proved entirely contrary to the government’s projections. By January this year, the average price of both imported and locally grown rice across Metro Manila had surpassed 55 pesos per kilogram (equivalent to 7.2 yuan per kilogram). The Department of Agriculture declared a state of emergency on food security, pledged to release rice from national reserves into the market, and enacted a price cap on imported rice.

Why have prices risen rather than fallen despite the influx of supply? The conventional economic supply-and-demand curve clearly fails to account for the complexities of reality.

Intermediaries serve as a vital bridge between farmers and consumers, yet they also operate as market entities driven to profit from rice trading. The Farmers Freedom Federation (FFF) points out that as profit margins in wholesale and retail steadily widen, it is this very group that stands as the primary beneficiary of the Rice Tariffication Law, pocketing the lion’s share of gains from cheap imported rice.

In February this year, a fraud case came to light in Bulacan province, adjacent to Manila, where old, stored rice was mixed with imported grains and sold under labels claiming to be fresh harvests.

Coupled with a lack of regulatory oversight, collusion between political and business interests has further fuelled market chaos. In February 2024, the National Food Authority (NFA) offloaded stocks that should have served as national reserves to private firms at just 25 pesos per kilogram. When the scandal broke, over a hundred officials were suspended. Recurrences of such misconduct have long cemented the NFA’s reputation as one of the most corrupt government agencies in the Philippines.

III. Food Security and Food Sovereignty

Bello argues that the escalating liberalisation of the rice trade is the root cause of the food crisis. He views the Rice Tariffication Law as a death sentence for the Philippine rice sector, given that domestic paddy simply cannot compete on a level playing field with heavily subsidised imports from Vietnam and Thailand. Left to continue unchecked, this trajectory will deal a devastating blow to smallholder farmers.

He calls on the Philippine government to reopen relevant trade negotiations to curb the dumping of foreign agricultural produce. Simultaneously, he urges the continued deepening of land reform, increased investment in the agricultural sector, and improvements to rural infrastructure such as irrigation and road networks, in order to genuinely sustain smallholder farmers’ incentive to farm.

Long before the policy shift, numerous Philippine rural development organisations had already begun empowering smallholder farmers, such as the Southeast Asian Regional Initiative for Community Empowerment (SEARICE).

Since its founding in 1977, SEARICE has supported farmers in collecting farmer-saved seeds, breeding new varieties, and facilitating the exchange of agroecological farming practices. By reducing reliance on commercial seeds and agricultural inputs, the organisation helps farmers fundamentally reclaim control over their own production.

On 8 April, we had the pleasure of visiting Eddie Sasi, a farmer seed breeder who has partnered with SEARICE for 22 years. At 65, Eddie and his family reside in the rural municipality of President Roxas on Mindanao, managing around two hectares of rice paddy without any chemical inputs. His rice fields, fruit trees, vegetable patches, and a fish pond are thoughtfully arranged to create a self-contained, cyclical ecosystem.

“Once the summer fruit is ready, come round and eat your fill for free! But if you want to take any home, I’ll have to charge you.” As the conversation grew more animated, Eddie warmly invited us. Diversified farming across 30 mu (roughly two hectares) supplies his family with healthy food, eliminating the need to buy produce from outside while allowing them to sell surplus to neighbours. This degree of food self-sufficiency has left his peers in the movement deeply envious.

Yet this is far from the norm for smallholders across the Philippines. Take rice: the country is home to 1.1 million small-scale rice farmers and agricultural workers tending plots of 15 mu (just over one hectare) or less. Most of them are “net consumers” of rice. As Robin explained to me, some farmers opt for high-yield varieties, selling their new crop at harvest only to return to the market to buy rice with a better flavour. For these growers, the price volatility over the past year has been little short of devastating.

For Eddie, choosing which rice variety to grow is not a binary decision. Training at SEARICE’s field school has equipped him with solid breeding skills. Whether he is aiming for high yield, superior taste, early maturation, or disease resistance, he can experiment with his own trait combinations, without having to rely on commercial varieties.

SEARICE’s seed bank, located just a few kilometres away, proves invaluable. It holds over 800 traditional rice varieties alongside more than 300 new ones developed by farmer-breeders. Any collaborating farmer can apply to trial and cross-breed with these seeds, provided there is a need. This year, Eddie’s farm is testing eleven upland rice varieties to assess their adaptability. If they show strong growth, they will be rolled out for wider cultivation or further breeding.