Publication:
An Overview of Agricultural Pollution in the Philippines: Summary Report

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (16.04 MB)
3,304 downloads
Published
2016
ISSN
Date
2018-01-29
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The ‘study’ constitutes the totality of the work and includes multiple components, including national overviews of agricultural pollution for the three focus countries, thematic working papers, and an overall synthesis report. The present report corresponds to the national overview of agricultural pollution in the Philippines, and specifically, to the summary of three background papers on crops, livestock, and fishery systems respectively. The overview covers water, soil, and air pollution directly associated with activities and decisions made at the farm level or its equivalent (that is, vessel level or pond level in the case of fisheries). It especially looks at: (a) the use of fertilizers; (b) the use of pesticides; (c) another cropland management practices (including the use of plastics, the introduction of invasive species, irrigation and land preparation practices); (d) the burning of agricultural residues; (e) animal waste management (land and aquatic species); and (f) the use of feed supplements, including antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals in animal agriculture (land and aquatic). Environmental impacts relating to land-use change are beyond the scope of the review.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2016. An Overview of Agricultural Pollution in the Philippines: Summary Report. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29245 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    An Overview of Agricultural Pollution in the Philippines
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016) World Bank
    The Philippine archipelago emerged because of the dynamic shifting and collision of four plates: Continental Eurasian plate, Indian-Australian plate, Oceanic Pacific plate, and the Philippine Sea plate. In the past 100 million years, the archipelago was welded together in an island arc punctuated by episodic and extensive magmatic activities. The country’s topographic landscape consists of towering mountains with steep slopes, undulating hilly upland areas, and flat lands. The rich volcanic soils, varied topography, seasonality of monsoon rains, abundant rainfall, and warm temperature enabled the suitability of land for planting various crops in the different islands. Being the staple food, both upland and irrigated rice is widely grown in various provinces all over the country. Yellow corn is largely grown in Isabela and Cagayan in Luzon; and in Bukidnon, North Cotabato and South Cotabato in Mindanao. The major growing areas for white corn are Mindanao and Visayas. Large plantations of banana, pineapple, coffee, rubber, and palm oil are located in Mindanao while large plantations of coconut are found in Quezon and Zamboanga. On the other hand, mango plantations are located in Pangasinan while tobacco is largely grown in the Ilocos Region and Isabela. Large areas are planted with sugarcane in Negros Occidental and Bukidnon. Temperate vegetables are grown largely in the cool high elevation areas of the Benguet Province while tropical vegetables are grown in the expansive areas in Pangasinan, Isabela, and Nueva Ecija in Luzon and in the Visayas Region. This report is part of a national overview of agricultural pollution in the Philippines, commissioned by the World Bank. The overview consists of three ‘chapters’ on the crops, livestock, and fisheries sub-sectors, and a summary report. This ‘chapter’ provides a broad national overview of: (a) the magnitude, impacts, and drivers of pollution related to the crops sector’s development; (b) measures that have been taken by the public sector to manage or mitigate this pollution; and (c) existing knowledge gaps and directions for future research.
  • Publication
    The Role of Agriculture in a Modernizing Society
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-05) Christiaensen, Luc
    China's success in addressing food problems after adopting the reforms in 1978 has been nothing less than remarkable. Grain output (rice, wheat and maize) has almost doubled and most hunger has been eliminated. Ever since China embarked on its reform agenda more than 30 years ago, its economic growth and poverty reduction have been nothing less than remarkable. Agriculture has been an important contributor to these developments. Since 1978, China has almost doubled its cereal production (rice, wheat and maize) and it is now feeding 1.3 billion people, or 20 percent of the world's population, while having less than 11 percent of the world s agricultural land and less than 6 percent of its water. New challenges are presenting themselves for China's agriculture, and old ones are resurfacing. High (land saving) Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth and increasingly open domestic and international markets, combined with grain self-sufficiency targets, a multitude of very small, fragmented production structures, and distorted land and labor markets have defined Chinese agriculture over the past three decades. The relative importance of agriculture s three problems in policymaking thus evolves during the course of development away from the food to the farm and field problems. This shift has however recently been compounded by a resurgence of the food problem, as global supplies struggle to keep up with demand. China's agriculture anno 2030 will be predominantly a modern commercial smallholder agriculture that ensures self-sufficiency in cereal food (rice and wheat), but not in cereal feed (maize and soybeans). The sector will maximize rural employment opportunities in labor intensive high value agricultural products and act as a diligent custodian of its precious natural resources.
  • Publication
    Agriculture Non-Point Source Pollution Control
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2003-06) Srivastava, Jitendra; Cestti, Rita; Jung, Samira
    The Chesapeake Bay is the largest and historically most productive estuary in the United States. It is approximately 200 miles long and 35 mile wide at it broadest point. The Bay's watershed includes parts of six states (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the entire District of Columbia. This area encompasses 64,000 square-miles, 150 major rivers and streams and has a population of 15.1 million people. It receives half of its water from the Atlantic Ocean; the rest from rivers, streams and groundwater sources. Fifty percent of the freshwater coming into the Bay comes from the Susquehanna River, which starts in New York State and flows through Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Chesapeake Bay supports 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals. It is home to 29 species of waterfowl, a major resting ground along the Atlantic Migratory Bird Flyway, and provides winter nesting for over one million waterfowl. After years of decline, the Bay still supports number of commercial and recreational fisheries, producing about 500 million pounds of seafood per annum. Over the years as its population the watershed grew, use of agricultural chemicals became widespread and livestock numbers increased, the water quality in the Bay declined. Nutrients, sediments and toxic chemicals flowing into the Bay were decreasing dissolved oxygen, increasing turbidity, killing-off sea grasses and producing diseases in fish and shellfish. Research undertaken in the late 1970s and early 1980s determined that the major culprits responsible for the decline of the Chesapeake Bay's health were the excess nutrient loads from municipal wastewater plants and from agriculture and residential lands, the sediment runoff from agricultural and residential construction, and the high level of toxic chemicals coming from industry and agriculture.
  • Publication
    Paraguay Agricultural Sector Risk Assessment
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06) Arce, Carlos; Arias, Diego
    This report is the result of a World Bank mission that visited Paraguay in June 2013 at the request of the Government of Paraguay. The mission’s objective was to identify, quantify, and prioritize agriculture risks that determine the volatility of agriculture gross domestic product (GDP), based on a methodology to assess sector risks developed by the World Bank. The methodology stipulates a two-phase process. The first phase (risk evaluation), which is in volume one of this report, was reviewed by the government and evaluates the current situation and perspective of agriculture sector risks, starting from the standpoint of supply chains. From here, and based on the identification of the most important risks, given their frequency and severity, a list of possible solutions was produced in addition to the existing public and private programs and policies. This process is completed with a second phase, where an action plan was prepared (volume two) that can be executed in the medium term to reduce sector risks and to contribute to the sustainability of agriculture investments. The significant efforts undertaken by the government to maintain support programs in critical production and trade areas of the sector are recognized, as well as the institutional development to strengthen the response capacity to agriculture risks. Chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two presents information about the agriculture sector and its recent performance is included, allowing to determine the most important supply chains for this risk assessment and to place the relative economic and social importance of the various commodities and production methods in the appropriate context. In chapter three, a comprehensive assessment of production, market, and enabling environment risks is undertaken for the main commercial and family farming supply chains, in addition to livestock. Chapter four shows the repercussions that risks have had in the past, in particular aggregated losses incurred by supply chain actors. Chapter five assesses the impacts of these losses throughout the supply chains and explores the relative vulnerability of the different actors. Chapter six presents the results and ranking of risks, a list of possible solutions jointly with different public initiatives where some identified risks are addressed.
  • Publication
    Lao People's Democratic Republic : Policy, Market and Agriculture Transition in the Northern Uplands
    (Washington, DC, 2008-05) World Bank
    This report presents policy, market, and agriculture transition in the Northern Uplands of Lao People's Democratic Republic aims to contribute to such a dialogue by providing: (a) a policy-relevant typology of the structural characteristics and transition patterns of the principal small-holder agriculture systems in the Northern Uplands; and (b) recommendations to strengthen Government's facilitation of a more sustainable and equitable upland transition. The report also provides input into the ongoing dialogue under the umbrella of the joint Government-donor working group on uplands. Chapter two sets out a typology of traditional and emerging agriculture production systems in the Northern Uplands as a starting point of the report. Chapter three summarizes the Government's upland and agriculture development-related policy framework. Chapter four provides an overview of the market impacts currently at work in the Northern Uplands. Chapter five discusses the transition dynamics and pathways of individual agricultural production systems and outcomes. It also includes some considerations on the winners and losers in the upland transition and on the sustainability within the emerging production patterns. Chapter six concludes with recommended options for policy adjustments and support interventions to help facilitate the transition process.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Morocco Economic Update, Winter 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-03) World Bank
    Despite the drought causing a modest deceleration of overall GDP growth to 3.2 percent, the Moroccan economy has exhibited some encouraging trends in 2024. Non-agricultural growth has accelerated to an estimated 3.8 percent, driven by a revitalized industrial sector and a rebound in gross capital formation. Inflation has dropped below 1 percent, allowing Bank al-Maghrib to begin easing its monetary policy. While rural labor markets remain depressed, the economy has added close to 162,000 jobs in urban areas. Morocco’s external position remains strong overall, with a moderate current account deficit largely financed by growing foreign direct investment inflows, underpinned by solid investor confidence indicators. Despite significant spending pressures, the debt-to-GDP ratio is slowly declining.
  • Publication
    Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21) Luna-Bazaldua, Diego; Levin, Victoria; Liberman, Julia; Gala, Priyal Mukesh
    This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.
  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
  • Publication
    Dominican Republic Poverty Assessment 2023
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-11-08) World Bank
    In recent decades, economic growth in the Dominican Republic (DR) has been steady. However, growth has not occurred in such a way as to make the benefits widely and evenly available. In fact, although the DR economy grew faster than that of other LAC countries before the Covid-19 pandemic, its poverty rates and social outcomes remain broadly similar to them. This report seeks to explain this conundrum, as well as to expand the knowledge base to improve the effectiveness of ongoing poverty reduction policies in the DR. The Poverty Assessment draws primarily on new analytical work conducted in the DR, structured around four background notes on: (i) trends in monetary poverty and inequality, as well as the key drivers of those changes; (ii) nonmonetary poverty and its spatial dimensions; (iii) social assistance programs and their role in mitigating poverty; and (iv) climate change and its interaction with poverty. By helping to reduce the evidence gap in each of these areas, our analysis hopes to inform government policies and the national dialogue on poverty reduction. In addition, the note integrates existing analytical work and evidence produced inside and outside the Bank, including from its operations in the country.
  • Publication
    Argentina Country Climate and Development Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) World Bank Group
    The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.