Notes on the Efforts to Eradicate Extreme Poverty in Zamboanga del Norte

by Edmundo Enderez This article is intended to contribute to the on-going discussion and debate on the proper approaches related to the goal of eradicating extreme poverty in coastal municipalities. 1. After the province of Zamboanga del Norte was founded in1952, the provincial government under different administrations had been implementing development programs intended to eradicate poverty. During the period 2003-2009, the improvement in poverty situation of the 3 provinces and 1 city in the Zamboanga peninsula is presented in Figure 1 showing gradual but erratic decrease in poverty incidence. Zamboanga del Nortes poverty incidence of 61.6% in 2009 is the highest not only in Zamboanga peninsula but also throughout the country.

2. In order to easily understand the context of poverty, a simple illustration on the relationship of 4 politico-economic variables that centers on poverty has been drawn as shown in Figure 2. It shows that underdevelopment breeds poverty in a situation in which either corruption or weak state prevail or the tandem of the 2 prevail. 3. This paper will only focus on underdevelopment and poverty. In Zamboanga del Norte, there are several programs that are being implemented by different stakeholders (government, NGOs and business) as a continuing efforts to address poverty in the field of agriculture and fisheries. The programs are formulated based on research data gathered through participatory and non-participatory research. 4. Presented herein are data on agriculture and fisheries that will explain (a) why the poverty incidence level in Zamboanga del Norte had not been significantly reduced and (b) marine fish catch volume is generally on the decreasing trend. 5. Data and information on agriculture are presented as follows:

a. Available land area under A&D per person and per family - Figure 3 shows that Zamboanga del Norte has relatively bigger A&D land area of 0.29 ha per person or 1.45 has per family as compared with Zamboanga del Surs 0.24 ha/1.2 ha and Zamboanga Sibugays 0.18ha/0.9 ha. This means that

if the land is equitably distributed, a family with more or less 1 ha of land will be living below poverty level which further means that since land distribution is not equal, majority of the farming families will really be subjected to harsh living conditions. In order to survive, farmers utilized for agricultural purposes the production area of the forestland which is relatively bigger in Zamboanga del Norte. But despite the fact that Zamboanga del Norte has bigger land area per person/family, its poverty incidence is still the highest in the peninsula which could be attributed to different factors one of which is that it has more mountainous areas.
Figure 3. Available land area under A&D for every person and every family

b. Figure 4 shows that poverty incidence is relatively higher or 61% up in municipalities whose land area are dominated by hilly and mountainous area. Lower poverty incidence of 0-50% prevails in municipalities whose land area are dominated by lowlands.
Figure 4. Lowland areas and lower poverty incidence levels

c. Figure 5 shows Zamboanga del Nortes volume of production of palay, corn and coconut from 2002 to 2006 were on increasing trend which contributed to the improvement in poverty incidence from 64.2% in 2003 to 59.5% in 2006. After 2006, the production had leveled off for palay and coconut but declining for corn which led to a corresponding increase in poverty incidence to 61.6% in 2009.
Figure 5. Volume of production: palay, corn and coconut

6.

Data and information on fisheries are as follows:

a. The marine fish catch data of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) were processed into graphical form to get clear information as shown in Figure 6. It shows that Zamboanga del Nortes tmarine municipal fish catch (bulk of production) started to decline after 1990 as compared with Zamboanga Citys marine commercial fish catch (bulk of production) which kept on increasing.
Figure 6. Comparison of marine fish catch in Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga City

b. In the case of Zamboanga City, significant increase in fish catch occurred during the years when the El Nino phenomenon occurred. (1998, 2002-2003, 2005 and 2009-2010). Based on the fact that Zamboanga del Norte waters is very rich in fisheries resources as compared with the other provinces and cities in the peninsula, one can immediately sense that the declining catch of the municipal fishers of Zamboanga del Norte is due to intrusion of big fishing boats (which are based in Zamboanga City) into its municipal waters. c. The El Nino phenomenon that occurred in 2005 and 2009-20010 is the main cause of upwelling which brought incalculable mass of nutrients from the sea bottom water column towards the sea surface water column that is made available for photosynthesis that produces primary food or phytoplanktons which is the main food of sardine. During said years, sardine catch for both Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga City were exceptionally high as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. El Nino phenomenon and sardine catch

d. For Zamboanga del Norte, the municipal sardine catch appeared to have declined or just leveled off from 11,471 m.t. in 2005 to 9,784 m.t. in 2010. The main reason is intrusion of big commercial fishing boats in the municipal waters. e. The BAS data on marine fish catch during the 1st 3 quarters of 2011 showed lower catch volume as compared with those of 2010 and it is expected that the 4th quarter catch will also be lower than that of the previous year. This means that the marine fish catch volume will be lower than that of 2010. f. It must be noted that the declining trend in marine fish catch starting after the occurrence of the El Nino phenomenon is not only due to the absence of upwelling but also to the occurrence of overfishing and reduction in the fish carrying capacity of the sea. In fact, even during upwelling periods when sardine catch is significantly higher certain major species of fish caught have been observed to have experienced overfishing in the Zamboanga peninsula as shown by the significant decline in catch volume between 2005 and 2010. These are as follows: round scad, yellowfin, slipmouth, and eastern little tuna and skipjack as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Common species of fish caught (2005-2010)

g. Total sardine catch for both Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga City have increased from 129,975 m.t. in 2005 to 212,510 m.t. in 2010, but then sardine is considered overfished based on the initial study of BFAR which then declared the banning of catching sardine during the peak spawning months or from Dec 1 to March 1. The increasing catch volume of sardine is due to high fishing pressure resulting to the decreasing average size of catch which is measured through its Relative Size (RS) with value of 0.5 as cut-off point which means that the fish size is half of its maximum length at infinity (see Figure 9). The RS value of less than 0.5 or less than 14 cm means that sardine is heavily exploited . But a more scientific study which is the length-frequency analysis and other biological study related to the specie will be done to back up the RS approach in determining the level of exploitation of the specie.
Figure 9. RS of sardine at 0.5 of max.length

h. The value of marine fish catch in Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga City is presented in Figure 10. The total marine fish catch in Zamboanga del Norte in 2010 is 40.264 million kgs valued at P1.681 B or P41 per kg. Its municipal sardine catch of 9.784 million kgs is valued at P791 M or P19 per kg. If fishery law enforcement will become effective in preventing intrusion of big commercial fishing boats in the municipal waters, then fish catch in Zamboanga del Norte can be much higher than the present catch.
Figure 10. Value of marine fish catch (based on BAS data)

8. Data on 2007 income of the coastal municipalities are presented in Figure 11. Dapitan has the highest income of P4,000 per person followed by Dipolog Citys P2,960, Sibucos P2,270, Sirawais and Gutalacs P1,870. Low-income municipalities will have difficulty in providing fund allocation for fishery law enforcement. There are municipalities like Sindangan, Salug, Liloy and Labason which have relatively lower poverty incidence but income per person is much lower than those municipalities like Baliguian and Gutalac with very high poverty incidence. Municipalities surrounding Sindangan Bay that include Sindangan, Liloy and Salug and possibly Labason should enhance their income generation program to be able to provide enough support to the protection and management of Sindangan Bay which is the richest fishing ground in the whole of Zamboanga del Norte.

Figure 11. Income of the coastal municipalities

9. Possible course of actions: In order to significantly reduce poverty in Zamboanga del Norte, there is a need to fully develop the agriculture (and fisheries) sector. The increase in agricultural (and fisheries) production on a sustainable basis will be needed to supply the raw material needs of the wouldbe flourishing industrial factories. In the field of fisheries, emphasis should be as follows: a. Fishery regulatory measures relative to sardine should go beyond the seasonal fishing ban. Since Zamboanga City commercial fishers get more or less 90% of total sardine catch in the peninsula, there is a need to (1) regulate commercial fishing on sardine based on its relative size and rate of exploitation which together determine the fishing pressure or extent of overfishing and (2) subject the commercial sardine catch to taxation: value of sardine catch by commercial fishers of Zamboanga City in 2010 is valued at P 3.96 B (197,015 m.t. at P20/kg) which can be taxed at 1% or P39.6 M or P198 M at 5%. To get the tax share for Zamboanga del Norte, there is a need to determine the actual volume of sardine caught in the waters of Zamboanga del Norte. The revenue generated from sardine catch taxation can be utilized to augment existing funds for CRM work and livelihood diversification projects. b. Fish catch data on volume and value from BAS and other research institutions should be disseminated in fishing communities, particularly the fishers, for them to appreciate, understand and serve as basis in formulating and taking precautionary measures relative to fisheries management. An example is the significant reduction in the volume of catch between 2005-2010 of round scad, yellowfin, slipmouth, eastern little tuna and skipjack which could indicate the overfished status of said species of fish. What is needed is information on the Relative Size which if found to be less than 0.5 could bolster the declaration of overfishing. Of course, the more scientific approach which is the length-frequency analysis that generates data on rate of exploitation, among others, could corroborate the two data. c. Zamboanga del Norte fisherfolk should be able to form a strong organization whose leaders are developed to become committed to take the lead in CRM work (particularly fishery law enforcement) and assume management role in livelihood diversification projects. The leaders should be able to stand as good volunteer leaders who will ensure the internalization of the integration of CRM and economic work.