Restoring Cordillera agricultural terraces

AGRI-TOURISM

Juliene Punay

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Agricultural terraces in Cordillera are one of the most sought sights in the country. These are breathtaking and mesmerizing.

Familiar sites known to many are the rice terraces in Ifugao and Kalinga and Benguet Vegetable Terraces. The terraces are naturally scenic and would leave you in wonders as to how it was made. There are times that it awakens the interest of a person towards agriculture.

In Sagada, Jane Likigan, municipal planning and development officer, said agricultural terraces are considered by the community as their cultural heritage.

It distinguishes identity and highlights culture and traditional practices that are passed down from generation to generation which makes it a valuable inheritance. Over the years, agriculture had been the main source of livelihood.

Terraces are not immune to change and some of it are in state of deterioration. According to UNESCO in 2008, factors affecting the state of the terraces were changes in traditional ways of life and knowledge system, financial resources, vulnerability to natural disasters, lack of sustainable funding for the functioning management agencies, management plan and activities, society’s valuing of heritage, human resources, illegal activities and legal framework.’

Ifugao’s pioneering efforts

The famous Banaue Rice Terraced has been declared as one of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Sites (GIAHS) and in its critical stage of deterioration. Thus, it needs to be restored and rehabilitated.

According to Artemio Dumlao in an article published in philstar.com, it was stated that the Ifugao governor disputed GIAHS and said that the rice terraces are being cared for together with the local and international partners. Nevertheless, the call for its rehabilitation have been continuously pursued.

In response to the issue being faced by these agricultural terraces, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) facilitated a meeting that called Conference on Cordillera Rice Terraces but was later changed to Cordillera Agricultural Conservation.

Likigan said this was agreed upon to cater the other crops being produced in the region like high value crops and flowers.

According to NAPC, the convergence project aims to: “rehabilitate and conserve the agricultural terraces; protect critical water sources, watershed, and biodiversity; strengthen indigenous knowledge systems and practices; and promote appropriate agricultural development towards food security in the region.”

In February 2020, a follow-up meeting was held in Baguio City to ensure stakeholders were updated on its status starting from the previous conference held in November 2018 at Banaue, Ifugao.

This was attended by different local government units in the Cordilleras.

The meeting reiterated that “the national government should have commitment in the rehabilitation of the agricultural terraces and for the local governments to assess the status of their own agricultural terraces to validate the claimed studies and reports regarding its deterioration.”

Laying down strategies

Pioneering efforts in the rehabilitation and restoration was noted in Ifugao's Master Plan for 2015-2024 with four program components that will be implemented.

First, the bio-physical component which includes programs on biodiversity restoration and conservation, community-based forest management, community-based land use planning and zoning implementation and disaster risk reduction management and climate-change adaptation program in rice terraces communities.

Socio-cultural component comes as second strategy which is indigenous knowledge systems and cultural development while economic development component is the third strategy.

These are community-based agri-industry program which includes sustainable tourism development.

The support system component serves as the last strategy which includes programs on infrastructure support, buffer zones, development institutional and policy support development.

Sagada’s quest for rehabilitation

In Sagada, livelihood does not only rely on tourism but also in agriculture. Every barangay has their own agricultural terraces which are usually planted with rice.

According to some farmers, the rice planting are done twice to thrice a year. Other fields are planted with bell pepper, sweat peas, broccoli, and other vegetables. Agricultural terraces also serve as part of their tourism industry. The most commonly visited are in Kanip-aw and within the barangays of Aguid, Pide, Fidelisan, Bangaan, and Kilong.

According to Likigan, some agricultural terraces were eroded or abandoned and requires high financial support to restore.

She said other than environmental related factors, the restoration cost of the terraces are higher than the profit and economic and migration patterns among the locals are seen as challenges.

Farmers in Barangays Aguid and Pide hope the proposal would be approved as it would be a good help to them especially when it comes to their finances.

A student of Sagada National High School from a farming family said, “Maganda na may rehab para naman makita ‘yung worth ng mga farmer.”

She added Sagada is not all about the tourism sites because the outskirt barangays rely on farming.

The approval of the proposal would be helpful in restoration, preservation and maintenance of the agricultural terraces which would o mean the culture it carries would be present. (Juliene Punay is a BSU-DevCom intern)