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Agricultural intensification, local labor markets, and deforestation in the Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2004

GERALD SHIVELY  and
STEFANO PAGIOLA
GERALD SHIVELY
Affiliation:
1145 Krannert Building, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. E-mail: shivelyg@purdue.edu
STEFANO PAGIOLA
Affiliation:
Environment Department, The World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433. E-mail: spagiola@worldbank.org
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Abstract

This paper examines agricultural intensification and its impact on deforestation in a frontier region of the Philippines. Panel data covering the period 1994–2000 are used to study labor demand and resource reallocation in response to lowland irrigation development. Results illustrate how irrigation has led to changes in employment, incomes, and activities at the forest margin. Findings indicate that the off-farm employment opportunities created by irrigation development have helped to reduce rates of forest clearing. Although some initial employment gains have been reversed, wage-induced increases in agricultural productivity in the uplands have reduced forest pressure. Results show that lowland irrigation has had direct, indirect, and lagged effects on rates of forest clearing, and that a virtuous cycle may be at play, with irrigation leading to both poverty reduction and reduced forest pressure.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , May 2004 , pp. 241 - 266
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Funding for this research was provided by the World Bank and the Office of Agriculture and Food Security, Bureau of Global Programs, U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms of Award No. PCE-A-00-98-00019-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors. Ed Barbier, Ian Coxhead, Sisira Jayasuriya, Will Masters and Doug Southgate provided useful comments and suggestions for the paper. Richard Yao and Charles Zelek provided valuable research assistance.