research for action: a region-wide participatory process to build participation, awareness &...

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A Tactical Notebook published bythe New Tactics Project

of the Center for Victims of Torture

by Chubashini Suntharalingam

edited by Nicole Palasz

Research for Action:A region-wide participatory research process to build participation,

awareness and advocacy on trade policies


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Published byThe Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human Rights Project717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455 USA

www.cvt.org, www.newtactics.org

Notebook Series EditorNancy L. Pearson

EditorNicole Palasz

CopyeditingNick Gardner

Design

Susan Everson

LayoutJennifer Meelberg

2006 Center for Victims of TortureThis publication may be freely reproduced in print and in electronic form as long as thiscopyright notice appears on all copies.

DisclaimerThe views expressed in this report do not necessarily reect those of the New Tactics in Human Rights Project.The project does not advocate specic tactics or policies.

ISBN 978-0-9759789-3-1


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The Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human Rights Project

717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455 USA

www.cvt.org, www.newtactics.org

4Author biography

5Letter from the New Tactics Training Manager6Introduction

6Background Information

9The Development of the Tactic11Implementing the Tactic

21Tactical Impact22Replicating the Tactic:Challenges and Lessons Learned

23Conclusion


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4

Contact InformationSoutheast Asian Council for Food

Security and Fair Trade (SEACON)No. 24, Jalan SS1/22A,

Petaling Jaya

47300 Selangor Darul EhsanMALAYSIA.

Tel : +603 - 7876 0520Fax : +603 - 7873 0636Email : [email protected] Website: http://www.seacouncil.org

AcknowledgementsI would like to express my gratitude to the following:Nicole Palasz for being such a great coach and friend

in assisting me with this notebook; My husband, SivaKumar Balasundram for inspiring me to finish this note-book; Aurora Regalado and her co-workers (SupaneeTaneewut, Belinda Formanes,ongdam Phongphich-ith, Khantong Intachak, Prak Sereyvath, Arif RahmanHidayat, Dr Bui Quang Toan, Nguyen Huu Nhuan,Kyaw Nyunt and Kyaw Moe) for completing this re-

search; Yoga Mithran Balakrishnan and Amardip KaurSoni for their moral support; SEACON for giving methe opportunity to be involved in this project; CVT forproviding me the avenue to share my experience on thisproject and for funding the printing of this notebook;and to the wonderful editorial team for investing untir-ing efforts on the publication of this notebook.

About the authorChubashini Suntharalingam has been the research man-

ager at the Southeast Asian Council for Food Securityand Fair Trade (SEACON) since 2003. She plays theroles of a fund raiser and an administrator who supports

SEACONs network members in carrying out SEACONsactivities and programs in relation to food security andfood sovereignty, sustainable agriculture and trade re-lated issues. She is also actively involved in transferringknowledge to the grassroots via participatory approaches.

She coordinated the participatory research on the eImpact of ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) on Small ScaleFarmers and Fisher Folks in the South East Asian Region,a research project undertaken by SEACON covering 8countries in this region.

Chuba earned her undergraduate degree in Agribusinessand postgraduate degree in Management from Universiti

Putra Malaysia. She also has a Diploma in ComputerProgramming from Saint Paul College in Minnesota,United States.

Prior to being involved in the social science scene, Chubaembarked on various professions. She has taught under-graduate and postgraduate students in Malaysias privateand public colleges and universities covering various

Management subjects. Chuba was a Computer Specialistand Financial Coordinator for a promising food testinglaboratory in the United States. She assisted with the setup and maintenance of all financial issues of the business,and maintenance of a customized database of this lab.

Chuba is a knowledge seeker. She craves to learn new

things and in the process discovers herself. She can becontacted at [email protected].

About the OrganizationSEACON was established in February 1996. e ideaof such an organization was conceived at the Southeast

Asian conference on food security and trade liberaliza-

tion held in the same year as run-up to the world foodsummit in Rome. SEACON provided a critique of thesummit, which was accepted by the Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO). From this emerged the Balay Decla-ration, a document containing the collective aspirationsand vision of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)for food security in this region. Our organization is the

mechanism to translate the spirit and objectives of thisdeclaration into reality.

SEACON provides a coordinated approach to foodsecurity, agriculture and trade issues, using advocacy,participatory research and networking activities. We

integrate local initiatives of agrarian reforms and agricul-

tural development with trade concerns at the SoutheastAsian level. In each of our member countries, we supportpeople-centered national-based food security councilsthat enable government, private sector and civil societyrepresentatives to meet and dialogue on agriculture and

trade issues.

e establishment of the national food coun-cil is to ensure that whatever analysis or positions takenon at the regional level, would have the secure backingfrom the grassroots and vice versa

Our role is thus to:

Monitor and keep in check the adverse effects of freetrade on peasant farmers

Monitor the development of relevant economic andsocial domestic policies in the region ecologically thatpromote economically and sustainable production.

Offer alternative agro-trade strategies based on theprinciples of fair trade and food sovereignty

Improve and lobby for policies related to food, agricul-ture and trade at regional and international levels.

For a list of SEACON network members, pleaserefer to the back cover.


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A REGION-WIDE PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH PROCESS TO BUILD PARTICIPATION, AWARENESS AND ADVOCACY ON TRADE POLICIES 5

October 2006

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the New Tactics in Human Rights Tactical Notebook Series! In each notebook a human rights practitionerdescribes an innovative tactic that was used successfully in advancing human rights. e authors are part of thebroad and diverse human rights movement including non-government and government perspectives, educators, lawenforcement personnel, truth and reconciliation processes, womens rights and mental health advocates. ey haveboth adapted and pioneered tactics that have contributed to human rights in their home countries. In addition, theyhave utilized tactics that when adapted can be applied in other countries and other situations to address a variety of

issues.

Each notebook contains detailed information on how the author and his or her organization achieved what theydid. We want to inspire other human rights practitioners to think tactically and to broaden the realm of tacticsconsidered to effectively advance human rights.

is notebook will discuss how Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade (SEACON) utilized aparticipatory research process in Southeast Asia not only to document and understand how free trade was affectingsmall scale food producers in Malaysia, Philippines, ailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia and Laos butalso as an effective means to inform and engage producers themselves in the process and issue. Finally, the participatoryresearch process provided informed and concrete evidence to back their policy advocacy on trade policies in theASEAN region.

e entire series of Tactical Notebooks is available online at www.newtactics.org. Additional notebooks are alreadyavailable and others will continue to be added over time. On our web site you will also find other tools, including asearchable database of tactics, a discussion forum for human rights practitioners and information about our workshopsand symposium. To subscribe to the New Tactics newsletter, please send an e-mail to: [email protected]

e New Tactics in Human Rights Project is an international initiative led by a diverse group of organizations andpractitioners from around the world. e project is coordinated by the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) and grewout of our experiences as a creator of new tactics and as a treatment center that also advocates for the protection ofhuman rights from a unique positionone of healing and reclaiming civic leadership.

We hope that you will find these notebooks informational and thought provoking.

Sincerely,

Nancy L. PearsonNew Tactics Training Manager


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6

In this tactical notebook, I will share the process weundertook to build this credible documentation ofthe impacts of one free trade agreement on a criti-cal segment of our societies in Southeast Asia. Thisunique effort involved organizations in eight coun-tries, working together to understand how the ASEAN

Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement affects our farmersand sherfolks. Through the participatory processesI will describe, such as interviews with producers andgovernment ofcials, focus group discussions, obser-vations and secondary research means (i.e., print andmedia publications), we created a comprehensivepicture of the current situation of food producers atthe grassroots level.

In addition to describing the steps we undertook andthe challenges we encountered, I will also share theempowering effect the tactic had on our network,how the process of gathering this information led

to self-realizations among small producers, and howour national partner organizations and SEACON areusing the results of the research to advocate for tradepolicies that address the needs of small scale food pro-ducers. Recent efforts include developing indicatorsto monitor government commitments, and lobbyingfor an ASEAN Food Charter that would enshrine therights to food, water and development.

Participatory research can be used for a wide variety ofhuman rights issues to document abuses and empowervictims. I hope this tactical notebook will be useful toyou in considering whether adapting this tactic would

work for your organization as well.

Background InformationThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)is comprised of ten nations: Brunei, Cambodia,Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Phil-ippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Theoriginal signatories are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, also known asASEAN-6. The new member-countries are Vietnam(joined in 1995), Laos and Myanmar (joined in 1997)and Cambodia (joined in 1999). ASEAN is intendedto promote peace and security in Southeast Asia,

as well as encourage partnerships in the region foreconomic, social and cultural development.

At the Fourth ASEAN Summit in 1992, the ASEANFree Trade Area (AFTA) agreement was initiated. TheSingapore Declaration of 1992, Framework Agree-ment on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperationand Agreement on the Common Effective PreferentialTariff (CEPT), released during the Summit, laid thegroundwork for the creation of AFTA. A free tradeareathe removal of obstacles to freer trade amongmember countries by reducing tariffs to 0-5% ontraded manufactured goods and processed agricul-

tural products and the removal of non-tariffs barri-ers and quantitative restrictions that limit the entryof importsin Southeast Asia was to be achieved in

IntroductionIn December 2005, trade delegates from around theworld met in Hong Kong to further trade negotiationsfor the World Trade Organization (WTO). Hong Kongwas also the destination for thousands of protestersaround the world concerned about the impacts of free

trade on the environment and on local communities.As they had in Cancun and Seattle during previousWTO meetings, civil society sought to express theirconcerns about the impact of trade liberalizationon their livelihood, environment, democracy andpoverty.

I went to Hong Kong on behalf of my organization,the Southeast Asian Council for Food Security andFair Trade (SEACON), to advocate for and defendthe rights of small scale food producers in SoutheastAsia. SEACON was well-positioned to advocate for theright to livelihood of small scale producers in relation

to trade. For the past two years, my colleagues and Ihad carried out a large scale, participatory researchprocess in Southeast Asia to document and under-stand how free trade was affecting small scale foodproducers in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam,Indonesia, Burma, Cambodia and Laos. This researchdemonstrated the decline in livelihood among farmersandsherfolks, often politically disempowered groupsin countries throughout Asia. In many cases, positivedevelopments in macro economic indicators such ashigher foreign exchange earnings, expanded markets,and more product choices actually hide a parallel trendtowards the social and economic dislocation and exclu-

sion of millions of small scale farmers and sherfolks,rural workers and their families. Our research dem-onstrated that the liberalization process in SoutheastAsia has been one of the factors that has contributedto the worsening condition of many small scale foodproducers. They are losing their lands, jobs, and othermeans of production, control over their meagre re-sources and becoming even more indebted.

Our research process was carried out with importantcomponents including the participation of small scaleproducers themselves and credible research method-ology and analysis making it possible for SEACON to

utilize the research results at the national and regionallevels to advocate for trade policies that address theright to livelihood of many small scale food producers.With thorough, credible documentation to support us,we are increasing our efforts to lobby governmentsin the region. SEACON hoped to come out with anASEAN Food and Water Charter that would be advo-cated and lobbied at various national, regional andinternational arenas in the effort of it being adoptedby the ASEAN governments. The Charter sought toinclude amongst others, a rights perspective on foodand water, the importance of the role of women inagriculture and the focus of sustainable farming and

shing livelihoods.

1The ASEAN Food and Water Charter is available on our website http://www.seacouncil.org


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fteen years (1993-2008). The completion target was

accelerated to 1 January 2003, then 1 January 2002.

The purpose of AFTA is to increase ASEANs competi-tiveness in regional and world markets by removingtrade barriers between member nations. AFTA wouldremove intra-ASEAN tariffs and non-tariff barriers(NTBs) and bring more foreign direct investment toSoutheast Asia.

The main mechanism is the CEPT. The original CEPTscheme covered all manufactured (capital goods andprocessed agricultural products) and excluded unpro-cessed agricultural products (UAPs). In 1994, ASEAN

decided to phase in UAPs into the CEPT scheme.

Changes in trade agreements can signicantly impactthe lives of both local producers and consumers. In ourregion, the majority of people are poor, live in ruralareas, and are dependent on agriculture and sheriesfor their livelihoods and food supply. AFTA removedbarriers to trade in areas that directly affect their liveli-hoods. All manufactured and processed agriculturalproducts as well as some unprocessed agriculturalproducts faced tariff reductions in the ASEAN FreeTrade Area agreement.

By 2003, when we began planning for implementa-tion of this tactic, almost all of the tariffs on productsincluded in the 2003 Inclusion List of the ASEAN-6

had been reduced to the 0-5 percent tariff range.Products in the Inclusion List, which still have tariffsabove 5 percent, are those that have been transferredfrom the Sensitive List (SL) and General Exception List(GEL) in 2003. There has been signicant reductionof tariff levels, from an average tariff for ASEAN-6

under the CEPT Scheme of 12.76 percent in 1993 to2.39 percent in 2003.

The new members of ASEAN were given more timeto reach the 0-5 percent tariff for intra-ASEAN trade(Vietnam in 2006, Lao PDR and Myanmar in 2008, andCambodia in 2010)

Trade liberalization has changed, and is continuouslychanging the dynamics of domestic, regional andinternational markets. It is imposing new demandsand pressures on all producers, but small producersare more negatively affected as they often cannot

compete in the global market due to their relativelysmall production levels. They also have limited capitalto make improvements in the quantity and quality oftheir products. Lack of government support in termsof the needed investments in rural infrastructures(i.e. farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities) andappropriate agricultural research and developmentthat could have helped increase productivity, furtheraggravates the situation.

The rapid increasing of markets, brought about bytrade agreements, resulted in liberalized agriculturalmarkets characterized by lowered tariffs and trade

Understanding Free Trade

What is trade?The commercial exchange (buying andselling in domestic or international markets)

of goods and services, intended to result inlower prices for consumers and higher

profits for producers.

What is a free trade agreement?An agreement between two countries oramongst groups of countries aimed at apolicy of non-intervention by the state intrade between their nations, usuallyresulting in reductions in tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers.

What are tariffs and non-tariff barriers?

A tariff is a charge levied upon an importedproduct, essentially to make the productmore expensive in the foreign market,which will discourage consumers frombuying it. Non-tariff barriers (NTB) arerestrictions to imports but are not in theusual form of a tariff. NTB can includesubsidies, quotas, dumping, intellectualproperty laws, or other means.

Four categories of products under theAFTA CEPT Scheme are:

Inclusion List (IL)Products for tariff reduction/elimination, andare essentially all manufactured andprocessed agricultural products and someunprocessed agricultural products.

Temporary Exclusion List (TEL)List of products for which member countries

seek temporary exclusion.

Sensitive and Highly Sensitive List(SL/HSL)List of products given a longer time framefor transfer into the Inclusion List and fortariff reduction/elimination and includesunprocessed agricultural products

General Exception List (GEL)Products that are permanently exemptedfrom tariff reduction/eliminations for reasonsof national security, human, animal andplant life and health, artistic, historic and

archeological value.


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barriers, which made the entry of imports easier andfaster.

With the markets widely open to products of othercountries, we feared the human rights of resourcepoor farmers would be gravely affected. We were

concerned they would be displaced from their landsand dislocated from their traditional sources of liveli-

hood due to shifts in production patterns. A numberof human rights laws protect the rights to food andto subsistence. For example, Article 25 of the UniversalDeclaration on Human Rights states that Everyonehas the right to a standard of living adequate for thehealth and well-being of himself and of his family,

including food, clothing, housing and medical careand necessary social services, and the right to security

Case Study Example:A NEVER ENDING CYCLE OF POVERTY AND INDEBTEDNESS:The Life of Marginal Fisherfolks in the Tuna Capital of the Philippines

General Santos City is the tuna capital of the Philippines. The fishing industry is the prime mover of the cityseconomy. The second largest fish port in the country was built to cater magnanimous sea bounties. As per areport from a local newspaper with Mindanao-wide circulation, General Santos Citys fish port is one of the threeports in Mindanao which passed the international standard. Nine (9) out of twenty-six barangays (the smallestmunicipal level of government) of the city are foreshore communities, mostly urban, where concentrations of thecitys urban population dwell.

Mang George is one of the thousand subsistent fisherfolk of the city who lives in Barangay Calumpangandsolely dependent on fishing to meet the basic needs of his family. He has four childrenone in elementaryschool, two in secondary school and the eldest (Joanne) now out of school.

Mang George is operating a boat with tres kabalyos (three horsepower) briggs machine owned by Mr. A.A.aChinoy (Chinese and Filipino mestizo). Mang George is the lone worker of the boat. The boat, popularly called apakura orserisan, will carry two passengers at most. They are deep-sea fishers that catch tuna outside theSarangani Bayand the economic maritime zone. They even carry out operations as far as Indonesia and PapuaNew Guineaentailing four to five days of unabated travel.

TheAmbak Pare Problem of the Fisherfolks. Fisherfolks used to cover only the territory around Philippinewaters. But there came a time when they were pushed further out. Environmental degradation as well as thedominance of foreign commercial fishing vessels spelled doom to the marginal and small scale fisherfolks. Lateron, pirates and other armed groups such as theAbu Sayyaf(an armed group based around the area ofBasilan)became notorious with theAmbak Pare, or Mister, jump off the boat or die! These predicaments pushed the

small scale fisherfolks to collaborate with mother boats in scouring the waters outside Philippine territories, andoftentimes, being caught and jailed in very harsh prison conditions in other countries.

The Small Boat and the Mother Boat. Regularly, apakura will be carted in a big mother boat, popularly termedas fuso or pump boat usually owned by affluent families in the industry (mostly financiers). Usually, a fuso cancarry 2-4pakura. The fuso will carry thepakura along with them wherever they operate. The owner of apakurawill pay 20% (from gross income) to the fuso owner for such conveyance.

The pakura owner gives 40% (from gross income) to Mang George for his work as the fisherfolk thus giving theowner the remaining 40% of the gross income.

In between fishing operations, Mang George will borrow money from the owner or financier to buy groceries forhis family and for his start-up capital. His start-up capital includes the purchase of hooks, line and other fishinggear, as well as food supply for his subsistence in the days of operation (from twenty days to one month). Thetime period is subject to the discretion of the mother boat operator. While Mang George is away, his wife will

continue borrowing money from the owner or financier for the familys subsistence.When they have achieved a sufficient catch, the mother boat will go directly to the fish port to unload and sell thecatch. Habitually, it is directly sold in wholesale to the buyerthis is also the financier of the operation. The priceof tuna will depend upon the classification of its meat, determined by the classifier. Generally, a classifier worksfor the financier/buyer.

According to Mang George, fraud in classification of fish meats is prevalent in the fish port. Mang George can tellwith expertise that some of his tuna are first class sashimi quality but the classifiers decision will prevail. Firstclass sashimi prices in the port ranges from P200-250 (around US$5). Class B is P120-180 (around US$3) andClass C is P80-100 (Around US$2).

Mang George will get his share dubbed as balanse (the balance) from Mrs A.A. (thepakura owner) the nextday or when Mr. A.A. calls for him. There were times when Mang George falls short of his share because Mr.A.A. and the financier will automatically deduct the loans made during the previous operation by Mang Georgeand his wife. He will again borrow some amount from the owner to treat himself and his family for his return

home and the rest will be for their food and the childrens schooling expenses. According to Mang George, thishas become the cycle. He does not know when the cycle will ever end.


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in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood incircumstances beyond his control. Similarly, the In-ternational Covenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights (ICESCR) defends the right to ones livelihood.Article 1 asserts In no case may a people be deprived

of its own mean of subsistence, while Article 11:1recognizes the right of everyone to an adequatestandard of living for himself and his family, includ-ing adequate food, clothing and housing, and to thecontinuous improvement of living conditions.

SEACON wished to advocate for appropriate policy andinstitutional reforms that protect the human rights offarmers and sherfolks. We feel that such reforms arevital nationally, regionally and internationally in orderto move towards the goal of achieving food securityand sovereignty especially in South East Asia throughan ASEAN Food and Water Charter. It is essential to

review critically and challenge trade agreements suchas AFTA to ensure that they are consistent with foodsecurity and sovereignty, and fair trade principles ofthe least developed and developing countries, and es-pecially their low-income producers and consumers.

The Development of the TacticOver the previous 6 years, SEACON had conductedresearch on a variety of issues that studies theimpact on the lives of small scale producers andconsumers. These resulted in numerous reports in-cluding The Fact Finding Mission to the Food Crisisin Indonesia, Women and Food Security and, Rice

Markets and Food Security in South East Asia. Thendings of these studies have been used to lobbyspecic policy and institutional reforms on rice mar-

keting, the betterment of women and addressingfood security in a crisis situation.

With the experience and background that we pos-sessed on issues related to food security and trade,we decided to embark on a participatory researchtactic to determine how the AFTA agreement is be-ing implemented and how it affects the marginal-ized sectors such as sherfolks and farmers in theregion. We felt that this tactic seemed the mostlogical way to understand the problems associatedwith AFTA and identify appropriate solutions tothose problem, thus enabling us to advocate forfarmer and sherfolk- friendly trade policies. More-over, SEACON believed that advocacy plans withthe governments should be supported with groundrealities, such as credible research that SEACONsmembers carried out, rather than relying on factsand gures gathered from the media. Most of theprior research that had been carried out on food se-curity and trade issues was based on secondary datathat was gathered from various secondary sources,including print and electronic publications.

Through the AFTA research, we sought to carry outthe following:

Assess the impacts of AFTA at the national level(focusing on trade and investments) and onsmall scale producers (capacity to compete in aliberalized market)

Provide recommendations to address andmitigate its negative impact and enhance its

positive impact, especially on rice and prioritycommodities such as corn, sheries and sugar

Promote fair trade in the region

In order to effectively utilize the results of the re-search, we agreed the research process neededto strongly reect our values and organiza-tional strengths. As we planned for the tactic, wethoughtfully attempted to ensure that the processwas:

1. Participatory2. Regional in Scope

3. Credible4. Gender Sensitive

1. PARTICIPATORY: We believed that the small scalefood producers participating in this tactic needed tohave ownership of the process. The voices of peopleat the grassroots level are important and in SEACONs

judgment, the concerns of this group of people havegone neglected far too long. Moreover, many of themare facing signicant life challenges directly related totrade liberalization. Governments often neglect theimpacts of trade liberalization on the most vulnerablesegments of the population, arguing that the trade

agreements allow them to compete ef

ciently in themarket overall.Rice paddy farmers in Laos hard at work (top) and Fisherfolksin Malaysia unloading their catch at the market dock (lower)


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10

By carrying out participatory re-search, SEACON wished to pushforward the voices of these mar-ginalized groups to the attentionof policy makers. More oftenthan not, research that is car-

ried out on trade liberalizationdoes not gather input fromthe grassroots. This affects thechoices made by policy makersand other decision-makers becausethey are formulating policies basedon their own perceptions of what isneeded, rather than concrete evidence.Without understanding the needs of peopleat the grassroots level, effective policies cannotbe formulated.

The participatory process would also empower small

scale food producers to become informed and en-gaged in the trade-related issues that affect theirlives. In order to accomplish this, SEACON needed toinvolve them in every step of the process, and returnthe results of the research to the communities thatwere involved so they could also use the research tobecome advocates on their own behalf.

In addition to empowering local people, participa-tory research would strengthen the SEACON networkmembers capacity in research work as they were di-rectly involved in the conceptualization, planning andimplementation of the project. The project enabled

the member partners to work together based on com-mon objectives - the improvement of small scale foodproducers livelihoods and welfare in the region. Thefollow up meetings and constant exchanges in com-munications to come out with better research designand methodologies enabled SEACON members (i.e.the regional research team members, the nationallead researchers and SEACON national members) tosharpen their research and analytical capacities.

2. REGIONAL IN SCOPE: AFTA transcends nationalboundaries, so it was necessary to conceive a tacticthat would illustrate the results of trade liberaliza-

tion as they were experienced by small scale farmersand sherfolks throughout the region. As a regionalorganization, SEACON was well placed to carry outthis work. We carried out research throughout theregion, with network members participating in Cam-bodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Philippines,Vietnam and Burma.

It was also important to carry out this tactic collectivelyin the ASEAN countries as our voices carry more weightcollectively than as individual countries. By carryingout this research in numerous countries, SEACONwould be able to depict the actual situation of a wider

range of small scale farmers and sherfolk in thesecountries. This would enhance our efforts to lobby

national governments inSoutheast Asia to adoptpolicies and promoteinstitutional reformsaimed at increasingfood security in the

region.

Our efforts to developa regional tactic were

aided by our experiencesworking collaboratively

across the region. To beginwith, SEACON members have a

shared commitment to food secu-rity in the region. Participating organiza-

tions were in concurrence that food security policiesthat have been developed by Southeast Asian govern-ments need to be amended, revised and updated to

take into account the true picture of the small scalefood producers who are poor and marginalized. Weagreed that one way to revise and update these poli-cies would be to carry out this tactic successfully todemonstrate the impacts of trade liberalization onsmall scale food producers. After participating in thisprocess, these members are even more determinednow to ensure that marginalized communities areprotected and not displaced due to trade agreementsratied and signed by their respective governments.The data that came out of this process provided themwith a new lever to advocate for changes in nationaland regional policies.

In addition to our experiences working on food secu-rity issues in our respective countries, we had enoughof a history working together that network members

What distinguishesSEACONs research from others

is that this research was supported withground realities with direct participation

from small scale farmers and fisherfolks who areinvolved in farming and fishing activities.

We, the member partners of SEACON were

directly involved in the conceptualization,planning and implementation of the research.

SEACON member partner

Fish catch of the day


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were able to understand and willing to extend a help-ing hand to other network organizations that neededassistance. This was found to be very helpful becausedue to language difculties, some members whoselanguages are similar were able to communicate ef-fectively to members who were not familiar with some

parts of the tactic.

Finally, SEACON members who were involved in thistactic had long been strong activists on trade relatedfood issues, championing the rights of small scale foodproducers. Their strong local networks were criticalto the implementation of the AFTA research project.Support services provided by local organizations andnetworks in chosen research areas included help incontacting people in the villages, offering initial in-formation about the villages, as well as connecting uswith households that could provide accommodationsand security for the local eld researchers.

3. CREDIBLE: In order to effectively use the infor-mation gathered from the research to advocate forspecic policies in the region, we needed to ensurethe integrity of the research process. The design,methodology, and research instruments were care-fully selected and implemented to guarantee that theresulting data would provide accurate informationabout the situation of small scale food producers.Moreover, the respondents interviewed are smallscale food producers who are very much affected bythe trade liberalization process. This research carriestheir voices on how the trade liberalization process

has affected them. For the research to be most power-ful, however, attention to detail was necessary acrossall participating countries. As we took the researchto our respective governments and other inuentialgroups, we needed to be able to defend our researchmethods.

4. GENDER SENSITIVE: Both women and men partici-pate actively in small scale food production through-out the region. In order to understand the diverseimpacts of AFTA on men and women, we designeda research process that would bring forth the voicesof all. Gender equality and empowerment is a major

development issue, to which SEACON contributes. As astarting point, the research took into account gender

issues in trade and agriculture. We also made surewomen producers were represented as respondentsand participants of focus group discussions and askey informants. Gender awareness orientation wasalso incorporated in the lead researchers meetingsand discussions. Information and analytical papers on

gender, trade and agriculture were shared with ourlead researchers to complement the orientation thatwas given to them.

Implementing the Tactic

I will now explain the steps we undertook to carryout the research on AFTAs effects on small scale foodproducers. These can broadly be placed in four catego-ries: Preparations and Design, Implementation, DataProcessing and Reporting, and Advocacy.

PREPARATIONS AND RESEARCH DESIGN:FEBRUARY- JULY 2003

At the beginning of the process, SEACON council mem-bers from the seven Southeast Asian countries had ameeting to plan for the research process. The projectresearch was divided into two groups whereby themain countries such as Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand,Vietnam and Indonesia would carry out primary andsecondary data gathering on AFTA and its impact whilecountries such as Burma, Cambodia and Laos wouldexclusively focus on secondary data (i.e., print andelectronic information sources).

Laos, Cambodia and Burma only conducted secondaryresearch because they joined ASEAN at a later stagecompared to other countries such as Malaysia, Phil-ippines and Indonesia. Thus, the implementation ofAFTA on agricultural products (lowering of tariff bar-riers) naturally began at a later stage too. SEACON feltthat insufcient data would be gathered from thesecountries for the usage of this study using primarydata collection as the impact of AFTA could not yet beexperienced by the small scale food producers of thesecountries. While I will focus on the primary researchwork that was conducted, I want to also note that thesecondary research enriched our ndings, as well asprovided us with information regarding national keygures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), economicgrowth and national policies. The secondary researchinformation was gathered from reports, journals, peri-odicals, government publications, conference proceed-ings, books, and the Internet.

Dening Roles and CommoditiesOurrst task was to decide which commodities wouldbe the focus of the research. Through our consultations,we determined that two commodities per countrywould be explored. Rice would be investigated in allcountries, as it is the staple food for Southeast Asianpeople. The other commodity was decided by thecouncil member coming from their respective countries,based on the importance of that commodity to them.

Discussion with ai women farmers


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12

For example, other commodities included sugarcane,sh, and coffee.

Our next challenge was to clarify roles that SEACONand partner organizations would play in carrying outthe tactic. The number of countries and organizations

involved in this tactic added a layer of complexity tothe process. As a result, it was critical that all participat-ing organizations, including SEACON, have a sharedunderstanding of their roles and how they would worktogether. A Terms of Reference document was drawnup with the supervisory organizations to ensure thatthe research was undertaken in a coordinated manner.The resulting memorandum of agreement reectedthe clear roles for SEACON and network partner or-ganizations.

SEACONs role as the regional coordinating bodyincluded:

Supervising the work of each National LeadResearcher and ensuring that research work/ac-tivities are carried out on time and that outputsare submitted as scheduled. The task as theregional project coordinator was to ensure thatthis research was well coordinated since thisresearch involved eight ASEAN countries cover-ing Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Vietnam,Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines

Providing the National Lead Researchers withlogistical and technical support

Financing the research and advocacy process Leading regional advocacy efforts.

The job responsibilities of SEACONs member part-ners involved:

Supervising and providing support to the workof a National Lead Researcher who wouldimplement the research work, and ensuringresearch activities were carried out on time andoutputs were submitted as scheduled.

Making available all relevant documents of pastor related work their organizations had doneon AFTA.

Writing and editing the research outputs and

reports, and leading in the presentation ofprogress reports and research results to SEA-CON.

Coordinating regularly with the supervisingorganization regarding administrative and man-agement concerns related to the conduct of theAFTA project and its activities.

With the roles claried, a work plan was drawn upfor all the countries incorporating overall objectives,results projected, outputs, and activities to be carriedout based on a time line.

After the roles and logistics were dened, a researchteam was nalized. It was comprised:

A regional coordinator to coordinate the entireresearch

A Research Manager from SEACON to assist in

planning, implementing, carrying out and coor-dinating the entire research

Eight country lead researchers to carry out andreport on the research.

The regional team members and lead researchers wereequipped with the academic and work experiences toimplement the AFTA research project.

Training Lead ResearchersWith the team nalized, a training session for leadresearchers was held to discuss the research design,methodologies, key instruments and gender frame-

work. Upon completion of the training session, thelead researchers were asked to eld test the question-naire with small scale farmers to obtain feedback onwhether the questions in the questionnaire would berelevant for the respective countries conducting theprimary survey.

The initial questionnaire was developed based onprevious studies carried out on trade liberalization byother researchers as well as SEACONs own ndingsfrom our previous work, through our research coordi-nator, lead researchers, resource persons and print andelectronic materials related to trade liberalization.

When the training was completed, eld tests werecarried out. Feedback provided from the lead research-ers from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysiaindicated that the questionnaire had to be revisedas it was taking too long to be accomplished withthe farmers. Some questions were eliminated whileothers were revised to better capture the responsesprovided by the respondents. Lead researchers fromthe respective countries were also asked to add thesecondary data areas which the regional coordinatorfelt were missing in their initial report to the SEACONSecretariat.

Prior to starting the implementation phase, SEACONsmembers also felt that a validation of the secondary

AFTA research planning meeting


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data information gathered by the national lead re-searchers would be invaluable. A meeting was heldJanuary 9-12, 2004. Farmer leader representatives wereinvited to this meeting to discuss on-the-ground reali-ties of small scale farmers in their respective ASEANcountries. A total of eight farmers from Malaysia,

Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos participatedin this follow up meeting in Kuala Lumpur for therst two days. These farmers shared their agriculturalsituation in the respective countries as well as talkedabout initiatives taken by farmers, government andNon Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on sup-porting the agricultural landscape in their respectivecountries. The national lead researchers continuedthe meeting another two days to revise the researchdocuments based on lead researchers input as well asthe farmers input. Mock interviews were held duringthe session to determine the appropriateness of thequestions and time period involved in completing the

questionnaire. Work plans were revisited and revisedbased on a new time line.

JANUARY MAY 2004: IMPLEMENTATIONThe lead researchers along with their supervisoryorganizations carried out the research for countriesthat were conducting primary research. Field ofcerswere employed to assist the lead researchers to imple-ment the research via interviews, observations, focusgroup discussions, price gathering and case studies.The regional team visited these countries to moni-tor the progress of the research, clarify doubts, buildcapacities of member partners, provide support and

assistance, and to ensure research objectives weremet.

Field interviewers selected to administer the question-naires were provided training in their respective coun-tries by the National Lead Researchers. For example,short trainings for eld interviewers were conductedin three branch ofces of CAEV (SEACON memberpartner in Vietnam): Hanoi, Nha Trang and Ho Chi

Minh cities. A total of fteen CAEV staff members andcollaborators were trained in research skills, as wellas communication and observation skills to gatherinformation about an object or event (i.e., availabilityand conditions of support infrastructure, such as farmto market roads).

In Malaysia, eld interviewers or eld ofcers wereselected mainly based on their experience and knowl-edge related to conducting eld interviews. The eldofcers were provided a one-day training sessionto understand the questions in the questionnaire,conduct a mock interview, and probe for informa-

tion that is not easily obtained such as income andexpenses of respondents. The eld interviewers werealso informed on the importance of good etiquette

during the interview process as not to jeopardize theimage of ERA Consumer (SEACON partner organiza-tion in Malaysia).

As this process of participatory research is the heart ofthe tactic, I will describe how we accomplished eachcomponent of the research: interviews with producers

and government ofcials, observations, focus groupdiscussions, price gathering and case studies.

Meeting with Farmers in Vietnam (top) and Indonesia (lower)National level data gathering on

AFTA and its impact

Primary and secondary research

including interviews, observations,

focus group discussions, price

gathering and case studies:

! Indonesia

! Malaysia

! Philippines

! Thailand

! Vietnam

Secondary research onlyinformation

gathered from reports, journals,

periodicals, government publications,

conference proceedings, books, and the

Internet:

! Burma! Cambodia

! Laos


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14

Interviews with ProducersThe interview process in each country began withselecting participants. The local organizations chosecommunities based on previous work carried out withthem. The primary target for interviews was small scalefood producers, including farmers and sherfolks. To

offer an example of how we decided whom to inter-view, Ill share the criteria we outlined for interviewswith farmers:

1. The farmer should have at least ten years offarming experience and be over the age of 30.

2. The total farm size is 3 hectares or below. (Thisincludes the farm size of primary crop plus thefarm size of other crops, as well as owned andleased land.)

3. The farmer receives 60% or more of his or herincome from a major crop. If not, the farmerwould be asked what they would consider their

primary crop (For example, the farmer grows42% rice and 51% sugarcane, thus the inter-viewer must ask the farmer which of the two, ormore, crops is his or her primary crop?)

4. Researchers also needed to ensure that bothmen and women were represented in the AFTAstudy.

The task of identifying participants was accomplishedin a number of ways. For example, in Vietnam, leadresearchers sought the participation of a sufcientnumber of farmer leaders. 250 farmers were selectedfrom Mekong River Delta, Red River Delta, Central

Highland and North East South through the System-atic Random Sampling method. This would ensure thereliability of data.

Systematic Random Sampling is a method of selectingsamples from a population for research purposes. It isa formula for determining who will make up the re-search respondents. The steps of a Systematic RandomSampling method include:

Step I: Prepare a list of criteria for sample selec-tion: gender, farm scale, source of income,age, and years of experience.

Step II: Take the list of farmers in a research area(village, commune).

Step III: Remove from the list all farmers who donot t the criteria for selection.

Step IV: Determine the number of cases in thepopulation (N), such as the total number ofpotential respondents. Decide on the de-sired sample size (n). For this research, ourdesired number of respondents was 50 perplace.

Step V: Compute for the sampling interval (K) withthe following formula:

K: intervalN: Total numbers of cases in the population of re-

search area.O: Total cases who do not t criteria for selectionn: desired sample size

For example, if the total number of farmers in the

village is 2000, and 1000 do nott with our criteria,our desired sample size (n) is 50, then the samplinginterval (K) is equal to 20. [ (2000 1000)/50]Step VI: Determine the starting numberfrom 1

to Krandomly, that is through drawingof lots.

Step VII: Go back to the list of farmers. Begin withthe randomly selected starting number.For instance if the starting number is 5,then start with the fth name in the list.The fth name shall be a respondent.Then select the other respondents byadding K to the fth name. For example,

if K is 20, then this means that the nextrespondent is the 25th name in the list.Again, add 20 to 25; hence, the third re-spondent is the 45th name in the list, andso on until the desired number of respon-dents is reached.

This random sampling process was not the only oneused to identify participants for research interviews.In Malaysia, respondents were selected using a non-random sampling method. Representatives fromERA Consumer approached the farmer leaders ofthe respective villages and they identied potential

respondents based on the criteria laid out in the ques-tionnaire. The farmer and sherfolk leaders then ar-ranged the interviews. The leaders were approachedbecause it is common practice in Malaysia to seek thepermission of the farmers and sherfolks leaderwhen one seeks to carry out a survey or research ina village. This person is typically also the head of thevillage or has great inuence over the villagers. Withthe assistance of the leaders, the rice farmers as wellas thesherfolks provided theeld interviewers withgood cooperation and feedback. The administered in-terviews were carried out in numerous places, includ-ing the farmers paddyelds,sherfolks boats, alongthe shore or at their respective homes, depending onthe convenience of the respondents.

Once respondents were selected, eld researchersutilized the interview questionnaire to assist themin gathering the information or data needed for theAFTA study. Interviewers were urged to ask the ques-tions as formulated to make sure there was consis-tency. Furthermore, to avoid leading the intervieweesto answer in a particular way, they were asked torefrain from showing the coded answers that were inthe questionnaire. This way, participants could answerthe questions in their own way. Interviewers were al-lowed to ask for clarications from respondents butrefrained from asking leading questions.

K = N-O 2000 - 100050n

20 =;


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The questionnaire covered a wide range of issuesaffecting small scale food producers, including de-mographic data, farm ownership information, scaleand type of crop production, and use of pesticides,herbicides or new seed varieties including geneticallymodied organisms (GMOs). Producers were also askedabout prices they receive for their crops, and how they

are marketed. Critically, we also took time to allowproducers to share the challenges they face as well astheir suggestions for how these might be solved bygovernment policies or other means. We also soughtinformation regarding their knowledge of AFTA andits effects on their livelihoods. Over 60 questions long,the questionnaire provided key snapshots of who ourregions small scale food producers are, and how theyare dealing with the effects of economic globalization.In each respective country where the primary data wasgathered, the number of respondents involved was250 or more for a total of 1,271 for all ve countriesconducting primary research.

Interviews with Government OfcialsInterviews were also carried out with governmentofcials. We felt it was important to understand thegovernment perspective on AFTAs impacts in theregion. The identication of the number of gov-ernment ofcials to be interviewed was left to therespective countries. For example, there were about4 or 5 government ofcials interviewed in Malaysia.The targeted ofcials included (but were not limitedto) trade and industry and agriculture ofcials, thosefrom tariff commissions and economic and develop-ment planning who had been involved in trade ne-

gotiations, especially AFTA and WTO or who focusedon AFTA or WTO. The information gathered in theseinterviews included:

The impact of AFTA on tradein manufactured goods andunprocessed agricultural products

We sought information regardingwhich countries and industries ben-eted most or least from trade, and

impacts on prices and demand forservices such as shipping, nancingand other areas.

Impact on agriculture anddomestic support

We requested information on howgovernments were taking actionto help producers become morecompetitive or mitigate the adverseimpacts of trade. We also askedabout any changes in governmentsubsidies resulting from AFTA.

Impact on investments andproduction structures

We sought documentation on thegovernments investment policiesand data on amounts and areas of

investments, including foreign direct invest-ment, and any dislocation of workers resultingfrom restructuring. Foreign Direct Investmentmeans direct investment in business operationsin a foreign country. We also asked how ASEANrelates to other trading blocs and China.

Their views on the proposed ASEAN Foodand Water Charter

These questions were aimed at discerning gov-ernment support for incorporating the Charterinto national policies.

This series of interviews added to the richness of theresearch, by offering a national perspective on AFTAsdiffering impacts on various segments of society andthe economy.

Focus Group DiscussionsWe decided to embark on various approaches to gath-er the data for this study as we wanted the data col-lection to be comprehensive in nature. One additionalapproach we used was the focus group discussion.Focus group discussions are directed conversationswith a group of people on the research topic. Whilethe subjects of these conversations were similar tothe interviews, including access to credit, agriculturalpolicies, and knowledge about AFTA, they allowedfor the creation of more qualitative information re-garding producers opinions and analysis. The focusgroup discussions also allowed us to have separate

discussions with men and women about gender andtrade, including division of labor between sexes, access

COUNTRY TOTAL TYPE OF NO OFSAMPLE RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS

Indonesia 233 Rice farmers 125

Sugarcane farmers 58

Potato farmers 50

Malaysia 256 Rice farmers 147

Fisherfolks 109

Philippines 297 Rice farmers 125

Corn farmers 119

Fisherfolks 53

Thailand 250 Rice farmers 175

Soya bean farmers 75

Vietnam 235 Rice farmers 97

Coffee farmers 48

Corn farmers 44Chashew farmers 46

TOTAL 1271


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16

to, and control of resources and markets, perceptions

on trade and agricultural development policies, andconsumption information.

By adopting these methods, we were able to gather agreat deal of data which might have been lost if onlyone approach was adopted. Through these discussions,we learned that small scale farmers need support inadapting to new processing techniques and technolo-gies as well as training in marketing. We also came tounderstand that water is a serious problem affectingfarmers. Water is being privatized in some countries,hence further increasing the cost of production.Discussions with women farmers in Malaysia and the

Philippines also revealed that they are engaging incottage industries such as food processing to supple-ment their families incomes and maintain sufcientfood supplies.

Case StudyThe purpose of the case studies was to gather quali-tative data in relation to cost of production. It wasdifcult to gather this data from the interviews per

se as it involved a lot of gures and respondents didnot have much time to spare to go in depth on theirproduction cost. Case studies were created for eachprimary crop in a village. One case study would be of

an owner of the farm and another case study would

focus on a leaseholder or tenant. Areas addressed inthe case study include:

Seeds, fertilizers and chemicals- what do theseinputs cost and how much are used?

Hired labour- what tasks do they perform, and

how much are they paid? Expenses what costs are incurred for land

preparation, taxes, tractor rentals, transporta-tion, etc.?

ObservationsIn order to get a sense of what amenities were avail-able in our research areas, lead researchers alsoobserved and documented a number of key infra-structure needs that could improve or limit economiccompetitiveness:

Number and type of primary and secondary

roads Availability and distance of health clinics Number and type of schools Availability and type of electricity Availability of water

This provides a picture of differences across countriesin potential obstacles to improving economic viabilityand market access by farmers and sherfolks.

Price MonitoringFinally, lead researchers gathered current price infor-mation on a wide range of food products (meat and

sh, coffee and tea, noodles, rice, sugar, cooking oil,and fruits and vegetables) for 2004. Researchers also

Focus Group Discussions in Vietnam (above) andIndonesia (below)

FINANCIAL CASE STUDY: FILIPINO RICE FARMER

Expense Details Cost

Seeds and plantingmaterials $27.27

Fertilizers $37.81

Chemicals(pesticides, fungicides,herbicides) $5.90

Hired labor for plantingand threshing $40.72

Loan payments $14.54

GROSS INCOME $189.05

GROSS EXPENSES $126.24NET INCOME $62.81

EXAMPLE


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gathered information on prices of listed food productsfrom 1999 to 2003 to enable us to establish whetherprices of listed food products had decreased, increasedor remained stable. This data was also gathered fromthe federal marketing authority for agricultural pro-duce and products of the respective countries. We

were able to use this information to calculate therate of increase (or decrease) in listed food products.For prices of fruits and vegetables, farmers wereasked which three were most commonly consumedin their villages. This was the basis for choosing thespecic fruits and vegetables to be included in ourprice monitoring.

MAY DECEMBER 2004: DATA PROCESSINGAND REPORTINGLead researchers edited the completed questionnairesand performed quality checks to ensure that thequestionnaires were answered correctly and logically.

A database entry form in the format of MS Accesssoftware was provided by the SEACON Secretariat to

Data Processing Steps:1. Editing and Coding: Ensuring all the

questions are answered and all theskipping instructions are followed. It isthen passed back to interviewers torecheck their work and fill in the missinganswers by calling or visiting the farmers

again. This is also where westandardized the answers so that theanalysis could be done accordingly.

2. Data Entry: Using software to compile allthe data.

3. Data Cleaning: After data is keyed in theMS Access form, the data is cleaned.Then the data is rechecked to ensurethere are no errors. At this stage key-inerrors will be rectified and if anyseriouserrors remain then the data is deleted orrejected.

4. Data Tabulation: Data is tabulated basedon the report format by the projectcoordinator. It can be in various chartforms, including pie charts, bar charts ortables, which can be used to illustrateresearch findings.

Case Study in Observation: Thailand

PrimaryRoads

SecondaryRoads

Clinics Schools Water Electricity

PhoethongDistrict,

AngthongProvince

Mainroads are

all pavedwithasphaltand runalong anirrigationcanal

Mostsecondary

roads areconcretewith a fewlateriteroads.

Every sub-district has

a healthstation

Allhouseholds

useelectricitysupplied bytheProvincialElectricityAuthority

Bungnarang,PichitProvince

Mainroads areconcreteor pavedwithasphalt

Mostsecondaryroads areconcrete,but roadsfrom thecommunityto farmland

are laterite.

There is ahealthstation in anearbyvillage,about 4kilometersaway, and

a privateclinic

School in thecommunityprovideseducationalopportunities,teachingkindergarten tograde 3 of

secondaryeducation.There is anon-formaleducationschool

In thecommunitythere is alarge pondand irrigationsystem foragricultureand tap

water for allhouseholds.However,somehouseholdskeeprainwater fordrinking

Allhouseholdsuseelectricitysupplied bytheProvincialElectricity

Authority

Village Three,SupanburiProvince

Mainroads areall pavedwithasphalt

Mostsecondaryroads arelaterite witha fewconcrete

roads

There is ahealthstation in anearbyvillage,about 1

kilometeraway

Schools areabout 4kilometersfrom thecommunity,offering

kindergartenthrough grade6 of secondaryeducation

There areseveralirrigationcanals foragricultureand village

tap watersystem for allhouseholds

Allhouseholdsuseelectricitysupplied bythe

ProvincialElectricityAuthority


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18

lead researchers for data entry purpose. The form wasprovided to ensure that data encoding is carried outuniformly across ve countries. A code list was alsoprovided to cater for questions in the questionnairesthat had other as an optional answer as well as foropen-ended questions. The purpose of the code list

was to ensure that all the ve countries conductingthe primary research adhered to a common code listto avoid confusion and to be uniform. Once the datawere encoded, the database was sent to the SEACONSecretariat and the data processing team for cleaningand processing. The data was cleaned and processedusing the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS),a statistical software program. The processed datawere then sent back to the lead researchers for analysisand reporting. The lead researchers were providedwith a detailed outline for the nal research reportin a narrative form.

At this stage, lead researchers presented their coun-tries research ndings and the project coordinatorpresented on the regional ndings. Discussion was

held to provide a platform for everyone to sharetheir thoughts, insights, comments, suggestions andexperiences in regards to the research ndings andprocess. With this input, researchers nalized theirreports for review by SEACON. The regional reportwas compiled based on the ndings of the national

reports. As a result of this process, we produced eightnational reports and one regional report on the impactof AFTA on small scale food producers.

ResultsOnce we had processed all the data, we began to seea better picture of who our small scale food producersare, and how they are affected by AFTA.2

The various country experiences of regional integra-tion under AFTA show that regional integration hasboth positive and negative impacts, winners andlosers. Trade liberalization through AFTA and other

trade agreements has created trade openings andexpanded the market of goods and services. However,economic globalization did not automatically result in

2The full report is available on our website http://www.seacouncil.org.

Case Study Example:

Struggling to Adapt to Changing Times

I am 43 years old, married with four children who are all girls. I was in third year Agricultural Engineering

in MV Gallego Foundation Colleges in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija in Northen Luzon, Philippines when I got married

in 1984. Our family lives in Palayan, Nueva Ecija. The eldest of our children is 21 years old and is already married.

The second, 19, is a high school graduate and presently works as a cashier in a nearby mall, the third, 17, completed a

vocational course in electronics but works as a saleslady in a grocery store. Our youngest is 11 years old and will be

in grade five this coming school year.

My grandfather greatly influenced my life. When I was still a young girl, he instilled in me a great love forthe land. He used to tell me about the value of labor and the dignity of farming. He was invited to teach in a nearby

school but to his words, he opted to continue farming. He got an award as Best Farmer of the Year in the 1980s. I

grew up with early memories of my grandfather so that I persevered in farming amidst all the challenges and

difficulties.

My husband, now forty five years old, and I have been engaged in farming since we were married. Through

the years, we have been tilling a three-hectare slopping and hilly land which is rain-fed. After years of campaigning

together with our fellow farmers in our locality, the land was awarded to us through the governments Certificate of

Land Ownership Award (CLOA) in 2000. I was then the president of a farmers organization called United League

of Farmers for Agriculture and Development (ULFAD). Aside from my organizational responsibilities, I am

involved in the whole process of farming- from clearing and cleaning to digging, planting, watering, harvesting and

marketing. Our farming style is very laborious. Once cleared, we dig the land manually with a hoe and plant the

seeds.

Prior to 2003, we planted only onions, a commercial crop. Our farm production was capital intensive. During

the planting season, we borrowed money either from the landbank or from middlemen who came to our place.Businessmen and women lent us money without interest with the agreement that they were to buy our produce at the

prices dictated by them. Since transportation was very expensive, it was easier for us to sell our products to

middlemen. Due to the great distance between the farm and market, we could not even transport our fruits to the town,

thus those that we could not consume were left to rot. We bought our rice from the lower sitio. They could plant rice

because they are near the river. They are able to utilize the river water for irrigation purposes.

Farmers do not usually compute their expenses as we are only interested to sell our produce during the

harvest period in order to obtain the cash. However, when we started to compute our production expenses such as

seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, labor and others, we were in a rude shock to discover that vegetable farming is a losing

endeavor. It is even worse when prices became very low because of the entry of imported vegetables. Since our

produce could not be sold, we had nothing to pay our debts.

We tried many approaches in an effort to improve our situation. For instance, instead of buying seeds, we

plantedthe seeds of our products only to find out that our succeeding crops were very difference from those yielded by

the imported seeds. We lessened the fertilizer and pesticides but our plants were dwarfed and the pests multiplied.

Some of us even observed that the more we used pesticides, the more the pests multiplied, hence making us think thatcommercial seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and pests must have been packaged together.


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benets aspromisedby the ad-vocates offree trade.In many

c a s e s ,positive de-

velopmentsin macro eco-

nomic indicators(e.g. higher foreign

exchange earnings, ex-panded markets, more product choices) hide a paralleltrend towards the social and economic dislocationand exclusion of millions of small scale farmers andsherfolks, rural workers and their families.

The capacity to maximize the opportunities of ex-

panded trade and investments brought about by AFTAand other trade liberalization measures depends onthe level of development of ASEAN member coun-tries. The reality is, among ASEAN countries, there isa huge development gap. Benets of trade will accruemore to economies in the region (Singapore, Malaysiaand Thailand) with higher levels of industrializationand technological development. They already havewidespread production and export linkages. For thepoorer members (Laos, Cambodia and Burma), theyhave to undergo a process of adjustments that couldbe painful and long drawn out.

The results of the survey of small scale food producersin Southeast Asia showed how vulnerable this sectoris when faced with stiffer competition with biggersized farmers or agribusinesses located in or outsidetheir countries. They are an ageing group with loweducational attainment, few other skills, meager as-sets (small lands, few savings) and indebted as well asbeing largely unorganized, and therefore politicallyand economically able to wield little inuence.

Our research found that small scale food producersare losing their land, jobs, and other means of pro-duction or control over their meagre resources. Many

small scale food producers are becoming even moreindebted. Many workers were forced to take on jobsunder inhuman conditions and iniquitous terms (con-tractualization). All combined, the SEACON researchdemonstrated that the trade liberalization process inSoutheast Asia has been one of the factors that hascontributed to the worsening condition of many smallscale food producers.

Returning Results to the Community

Given the participatory nature of this tactic, we feltit was critical to share the results of the research to

the communities whom participated in this research.Different countries carried this out in a variety of

ways. Most SEACON partners organized meetings toshare results with a variety of stakeholders, includingfarmers, sherfolk, government ofcials and othernon-governmental organizations. For example:

Laos: The Sustainable Agriculture Forum (SAF)

translated key materials on AFTA and sharedthe research results with inuential governmentofcials from the ASEAN Economic Coopera-tion of Foreign Trade Department of Ministry ofTrade and, Planning and Investment Division ofMinistry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Malaysia: ERA Consumer carried out a populareducational materials workshop to share thendings of this research along with other WorldTrade Organization (WTO) agreements with thefarmer respondents who participated in thisstudy. WTO agreements were also shared duringthis workshop as other trade agreements were

also affecting small scale farmers and sherfolk.Once the workshop was done, we created acomic book describing WTO and three agree-ments associated with it.

Indonesia: Peoples Coalition on Food Sover-eignty (KRKP) shared the ndings regarding

By participating inthis study, we learned to compute our

operation expenses and we were saddenedby the findings that our high production

expenses such as seeds, fertilizer, pesticides,labor and other costs have led to expensiveproduce. Consumers no longer want to buyour produce in our market as they prefer to

buy cheaper imported produce.

Small scale farmer

Education workshop (above) and comic book(below), Malaysia


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20

the impact of AFTA on small scale farmers inIndonesia with Parliament, key governmentalMinistries, media groups, farmers and sherfolkas well as civil society.

Prior to this sharing process, many farmers and sh-

erfolks were unaware of the implications of tradeagreements on their livelihood and rights as producersbut this tactic assisted them in realizing the adverseeffects of their governments decision to sign tradeagreements on their behalf without consulting themrst.

The sharing of the AFTA research ndings from thelead researchers also enlightened them about otheraspects of their production approaches. For example,many of them were not aware that they were facing aloss due to the high production cost. They never planfor the new season and are continuously in debt. The

cost of production has increased due to increases inthe cost of external inputs (i.e. fertilizer, pesticide)which the majority of farmers in Southeast Asia ap-ply to their crops. They believe that the more theyapply, the higher the crop yield will be, leading to abigger harvest and thus, more money for them. Manyhave learned through this process that higher usageof external inputs onto the soil degrades the qualityof the soil and hence reduces the quality of the cropas nutrients from the soil cannot be absorbed by thecrops.

DECEMBER 2004 DECEMBER 2005: ADVOCACY

With the research results in hand, embarked on theadvocacy stage of our process. An AFTA advocacymeeting was held. Network members learned newapproaches, and formulated general advocacy plansfor national and regional levels. The meeting wasalso an opportunity to share the regional report withmembers, and gather recommendations and sugges-tions to enrich the national and regional reports andformulation of the ASEAN Food and Water Charter.Subsequently, revisions to the Charter as well as toreports were made.

Advocacy approaches have been used by SEACON at

the regional level, but also by partner organizationsat the national level.

Regional AdvocacySEACONs early priority has been to share the AFTAresearch ndings in various regional and interna-tional fora. The voices of grassroots are largelyignored when national agricultural policies areformulated. Hence, this research providedSEACON with an avenue to voice their con-cerns and that we can share with variousstakeholders, both governmental and non-governmental.

A Regional Conference entitled the ASEAN FreeTrade Area (AFTA) in a Changing Regional and GlobalEconomy: Impacts and Prospects was held in October

2005 in Kuala Lumpur. The aim of the conferencewas to provide a forum for the rural people, activists,policy makers, members of the academic communityand other stakeholders to deliberate and discuss issuespertaining to AFTA and other trade agreements, foodsecurity and livelihood of small scale producers in theSEA region. Specically the conference aimed to shareand disseminate SEACONs AFTA researchndings andto obtain inputs from various stakeholders in order toenrich the ndings.

The findings of this research also strengthenedSEACONs ability to work with like-minded groups to

push for Right to Livelihood and Right to Food poli-cies in the region. The ASEAN Food and Water Charterwhich promotes the principles of Food Sovereigntyand Fair Trade in the SEA region is one tool that hasbeen adjusted to reect what we learned from smallscale food producers in the region. This Charter em-bodies the principles of food sovereignty and securityand fair trade in which SEACON hopes governmentsfrom the ASEAN region will adopt into their respec-tive national agricultural policies in order for themto fulll their commitments to the United NationsMillennium Goal One of eradicating extreme povertyand hunger. The ASEAN Food and Water Charter at

its core would demand that governments adhere tothe following principles:

Food and Water are basichuman rights

Every citizen inSouth East Asia

(SEA) should haveaccess to an ad-

equate supplyof nutritious,safe, afford-able and

culturally ac-ceptable food

The findings of this research haveprovided recommendations that are

practical and applicable in the Vietnam

rural agricultural situation.

Government official, Vietnam

National Consultation in Vietnam sharing of findings

with various stakeholders


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Food should be produced in a manner that isenvironmentally sustainable, safe for consump-tion and socially just

The attainment of the right to food should notin any way compromise other human rightsprinciples.

With thorough, credible documentation to supportus, we are heightening our efforts to lobby govern-ments to adopt this important ASEAN Food and WaterCharter.

The ASEAN Food and Water Charter encompasses therights based perspectives, i.e. right to sustainable liveli-hood, right to food, right of the people of SoutheastAsia to determine their own food policies in order toincrease food security. Additionally, this Charter high-lights the importance of women in agriculture, theuse and impact of agricultural chemicals and the focus

of sustainable farming and shing livelihoods. Weare using the ASEAN Food and Water Charter as ourlobbying tool at national, regional and internationalmeetings, assemblies, conferences and other fora.

National AdvocacyNational partner organizations have been utilizing theAFTA research to carry out a wide range of advocacytactics to ensure the right to livelihoods among smallscale food producers. The one advocacy approachthat was carried out and would be carried out in allthe countries was national consultations. Additionalapproaches vary by country. For example:

Vietnam: The Center for Agriculture Extension(CAEV) and Vietnam Partnership for the De-velopment of Human Resources in Rural Areas(VIETDHRRA) is working with banks, foreignand domestic investors, grassroots organizationsand private and public entities to simplify ef-forts by local farmers to access credit to improvetheir viability.

Laos: SAF and SEACON member DeutscherEntwicklungsdienst (DED) in Laos organized aworkshop with farmers, non-governmental andgovernmental organizations to strategize about

how local seeds may be saved to counter thenegative impacts decreasing genetic diversity intheir crops.

Thailand: Alternative Agriculture Network(AAN) of Thailand is bringing the recommenda-tions of farmers to key government ofcials andencouraging the sharing of experiences amongfarmers to develop production and marketingalternatives that support small scale farmers.

Philippines: The Philippine Council for FoodSecurity and Fair Trade (KAISAMPALAD) is en-gaging civil society and government agenciesto enact more farmer-friendly policies such as

encouraging citizens to support local products.In addition, Kaisampalad is developing indica-

tors on the rights to food and health to moni-tor government compliance to its human rightsobligations. As a direct result of their efforts,

the Philippine legislature has decided to adoptsome of the organizations agricultural policyproposals.

TACTICAL IMPACTThis tactic has had many impacts, both anticipated andunexpected. We are particularly proud of the empow-ering effect it has had on our network members andsmall scale food producers throughout the region.The small scale food producers who participated inthis tactic possess a sense of ownership of this tactic.This is because the documentation process was carriedout based on their inputs. These producers provided

feedback and suggestions via interviews, focus groupdiscussions and in return reports were written basedon these inputs. The tactic also increased awarenessand built community capacity to participate in theempowerment process to advocate for food securityand sovereignty. The process of gathering informationfrom small scale food producers inevitably led to self-realization among them on their existing situation.

Second, the tactic strengthened network memberscapacity in research and writing. SEACON membersare now able to take what they learned through thistactical process to document other issues faced by the

communities with which they work.

Varieties of rice seeds in Laos


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English is notwidely spokensuch as Laos,C a m b o d i a ,Vietnam andB u r m a . T h i s

would reduce thebarriers to com-munication, allowthe transfer of ideasand avoid confusion.

Language differences also created difculties for usin the development of the questionnaire. The ques-tionnaire was rst developed in the English languageand then translated into the respective countrieslanguages. The process of translating the question-naire into various other languages was very tediousbecause the structure of the questions needed to be

understood well so that there would not be a variationin the meaning between the English set of questionswith the translated ones.

IDENTIFYING CAUSE AND EFFECTWhile our study raised many concerns about trade lib-eralization resulting from the AFTA agreement, South-east Asian governments are also involved with otherbilateral and international trade agreements. With somany different arrangements in play, we cannot becertain that AFTA was the unique cause of the impactson small scale producers, or if the effects actually re-sulted from multiple trade agreements. However, we

tried to focus our primary research in those countrieswith the most likely impacts from AFTA.

ADHERING TO THE TIME SCHEDULESEACON network members have to prioritize thework in their respective organizations. The research-ers who were carrying out SEACONs research weretypically also involved in various other programs fortheir organizations. It was difcult for them to priori-tize the research work given all the other demandson their time. Adding to these difculties, e-mail wasthe primary medium of communication used, result-ing in a lack of face-to-face communication. Not

knowing what the other party was thinking or doingwas often a problem as we were not able to gaugewhether network members and lead researchers un-derstood what had been written and whether therewas an action that followed suit. Sometimes e-mailmessages were distorted and faulty, creating a delayin responses from network members, affecting workschedules and activities.

In replicating this tactic, I suggest follow up actionwith the respective network members lead research-ers via biweekly telephone calls to have a better senseof their progress in furthering the tactic.

Rally for Trade Justice, Indonesia

Third, there is now a more comprehensive understand-ing of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement

- both the regional team members and lead research-ers have been able to gather a wealth of informationand secondary data on the ASEAN Free Trade Area(AFTA) agreement, especially on its implementationat the national level. Some of this data is alreadyincorporated in the country reports. The challenge atthis juncture is coming up with analytical papers andpackaged in a popular manner for the use of the smallscale food producers and civil society groups, not onlyto gain more knowledge on AFTA but to utilize thesematerials in moving forward our advocacy goals onpolicy reforms for the betterment of small scale foodproducers at the national and regional levels.

Finally, this tactic deepened existing working relation-ships within our network and fostered new partner-ships with other regional networks and alliances thatwork on issues related to food security and sover-eignty, and trade.

Replicating the Tactic:Challenges and Lessons LearnedWe faced a number of challenges in carrying out thistactic. Hopefully, our process of learning will helpothers who would like to use a similar tactic at aregional scale.

CONSENSUSWith so many countries and individuals involved, it wasvery difcult to bring SEACON members to a consensuson the research design, methodology, key instruments,and so on. When working across countries and orga-nizations, a lot of patience is required to ensure allparticipants are satised with the process.

LANGUAGEEnglish is not the rst language in the countries fromthe Southeast Asia region. Communication has to bebasic in nature and easily understood. If I were to

repeat this tactic, I would probably station a bilingualpersonnel to carry out the tactic in countries where

A job well done. Research ofthis scale should be carried out inother parts of the world (especially

countries in the South) to collectively showthe detrimental effects of trade liberalization

on small scale farmers and fisherfolk.

NGO respondent


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ADAPTABLE LEAD RESEARCHERS AND FIELDOFFICERSHiring eld ofcers to carry out the eld work wastedious as the process of interviewing respondentsinvolved someone who is able to adapt well to theirrespondents in order to receive an accurate picture of

their respondents situation. The

eld of

cers need tobe provided with training on how to approach andtalk to the target respondents.

COOPERATIONWe needed

research for action: a region-wide participatory process to build participation, awareness &...

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