by Ranell Martin M. Dedicatoria, SEARCA KMU
22-May-2008 SEARCA News Release
They eat their stored grains, sell their animals and handicraft, and reduce their food intake. They also continue hunting and gathering food from forests.
There are about 110 groups of IPs in the Philippines. Each of them has their own set of indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSP). With the onset of issues in food security and environmental degradation, questions arise. Will the IPs be able to deal with the environmental changes and still survive?
The Erumanen ne Menuvu is a major Menuvu (Manobo) group in Cotabato. Majority of them inhabits the uplands of Libungan, Alamada, Aleosan, Carmen and Banisilan in the province. The indigenous agroforestry system of the Erumanen has potential to ensure food availability. However, the IPs now face logging problems in their ancestral land as well as climate change which directly influences food availability.
Food security continues to be a major concern not only in the Philippines, but in other Asian countries as well. The IPs such as the Erumanen are still able to cope through their remaining forest resources so far. But who knows what may happen if environmental degradation continues in the years to come? These IPs may be alienated from their culture because they will be forced to adopt new technologies in order to survive.
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Facts and figures based on the Agriculture and Development Seminar Series titled Food Availability and Resilience in the Indigenous Agroforestry System of the Erumanen en Menuvu of Cotabato, Philippines last 20 May 2008 by Ms. Neyrma N. Cabatac, Assistant Professor, Southern Christian College, Cotabato.
