Understanding the Resilience of Swidden Agroecosystems Interacting with Rubber and Oil Palm Production Regimes in the Philippines

Abstract

Currently, smallholder farmers in the Philippines and elsewhere are being engaged in the production of rubber and oil palm for global consumption. Among these smallholder farmers are indigenous peoples who continue to practice traditional forms of swidden agriculture. There is then a propensity for emerging agro-industrial production regimes to increasingly interact with and affect traditional swidden agroecosystems. In this article, we endeavor to explore the application of the resilience concept in analyzing and comparing the persistence of swidden agroecosystems enmeshed in globally integrated agro-industrial production in the province of Palawan, the Philippines. Drawing from six months of ethnography, we compare the resilience of swidden agroecosystems interacting with rubber and oil palm production regimes using indicators developed specifically to evaluate the social and ecological resilience of agroecosystems. Our findings suggest that swidden agroecosystems interacting with rubber production indicate greater resilience as compared to those with oil palm. This difference can be attributed to the greater tolerance of the rubber production regime to swidden agriculture, as well as the regime's more flexible production management systems. However, we caution that any plans of the rubber production regime to follow the oil palm contract model may result in the decline of resilience of swidden agroecosystems in rubber-producing communities.