The Philippines Action Plan to Combat Desertification, Land Degradation, Drought and Poverty - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 290

Chapter 15
The Philippines Action Plan to Combat
Desertification, Land Degradation, Drought
and Poverty

G.M. Castro Jr.

Synopsis The Philippines is a country made up of islands, some large and some
small. It is an agricultural country with mostly steeply sloping land that was cleared
of forest to become cropland - principally for food crops to support the rapidly
increasing population. Over time, soil loss and nutrient depletion have reduced
the productivity of the land. Innovative approaches that provide soil protection
and improve both livelihoods and human nutrition have been trialled. This chapter
summarizes the results of some of them.

Key Points

• The Philippines, one of the largest island-groups in the world with 7,107 islands

and islets, is strategically located within the area of nations that sweeps southeast
from Mainland Asia across the equator to Australia. Approximately 27.3 % of the
Philippines is vulnerable to drought, alternating with yearly floods and typhoons,
causing serious land degradation and declining land productivity. These are
provinces located in Type 1 climate, which are typhoon and drought prone and
are generally vulnerable to El Nino - 6.60 million hectares are in Luzon, 1.41
million hectares (Mha) in the Visayas. There are specific provinces in Mindanao
that are likewise becoming vulnerable to seasonal dryness caused by natural
drought and El Nino phenomenon.

• It is estimated that soil erosion carries away a volume of soil 1 m deep

over 200,000 ha a year. On-site soil fertility losses in the Philippines due to
unsustainable land management, as per 1989 World Bank estimates, is to be
around US$ 100 M, equal to one per cent of Philippine GDP per year. The
quality and management of land resources in the Philippines has become of
serious concern because of exponentially increasing population and the need

;