No matter how you slice it, abaca’s share of the economic pie in Catanduanes Province is small and declining.
This is unfortunate on several fronts, but the most salient of these is abaca’s position as a legacy agricultural crop: Abaca is a symbol not only of Catanduanes, but also of the Philippine nation as a whole.
Not to mention that for some 13,000 farmers in the province, abaca is known by some as their ATM machine, a supply of quick cash.
The word abaca is a Spanish loan word from ancient Tagalog “abaka”, so it sometimes is written Spanish-style with an accent — abacá.
The reasons for abaca’s decreasing share of the local economy are manifold, but chief among them are the rapid growth of other economic sectors, inclement weather, foreign competition, and lack of investment in abaca farming equipment and practices.
Just a few short decades ago, abaca played a central role in the economic life of the province. While precise figures are not available, the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector, which is dominated by abaca, likely accounted for as much as 20–30 percent of the local economy 40 years ago. Evidence for this is that agriculture accounted for 25 percent of the Philippines’ national economy in 1980, and Catanduanes was not an exception.
Today the AFF sector in Catanduanes accounts for only 7.5 percent of the island’s economy, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, while industry and services account for 47.3 percent and 45.2 percent, respectively.
The significance of this shift is that local policymakers today might overlook abaca farming as being of little importance to the local economy compared to, say, tourism. This may be true in dollar terms, but not in cultural terms.
Weather-wise, “inclement weather” is a lame reference to Typhoons Rolly and Pepito, each of which wrought horrific destruction to the province. Abaca is not a tree but an herbaceous plant — a giant herb, in other words — so it cannot stand up to a howling wind, like the hard wood of the native pili tree. Thousands of hectares — possibly more than 20,000 — of abaca and bananas, abaca’s taxonomic cousin, were knocked down by 280 kph gusts of wind during each one of these supertyphoons.
Unfortunately, due to climate change, long-term weather forecasts predict that storms of equal or greater intensity will strike the province in the future.
Regarding legacy products, examples are tea from Sri Lanka, French fries from France, vodka from Russia, and olives from Greece. As for abaca, for centuries ships worldwide have relied heavily on Manila hemp, made with abaca fiber, for most of their cordage, making Manila the world’s center for making rope from abaca fiber early in the last century.
Not to mention that almost every office in America has manila envelopes and manila folders — which are made of abaca pulp and which long ago lost their capitalization due to common usage — and most American farms have Manila rope. These all are legacy products with historic ties to Catanduanes Province.
The provincial government is aware of abaca’s role as a legacy crop. The annual Abaca Festival, which began in May 2016, is a way for the provincial government to capitalize on this legacy and to call attention to the historical importance of abaca in local culture and economics.
Worldwide, the Philippines is the largest producer of abaca, with 176,549 hectares under cultivation, situated mostly in the Bicol Region and producing 85 to 90 percent of the global supply. Other nations with a foot in the game include Ecuador, with 12,000 to 14,000 hectares under cultivation, mostly on large, mechanized plantations; Costa Rica, with just a few thousand hectares on smallholder plots; and El Salvador, with less than 1,000 hectares in total.
Smaller players include Kenya, Indonesia, and Equatorial Guinea, which combined produce only 3 to 4 percent of global abaca exports,
While Ecuador has far fewer hectares planted with abaca than the Philippines, it has an edge in the international market because of its high degree of mechanization and its focus on high quality fiber.
By contrast, approximately 92 percent of Philippine abaca production is done with manual labor, and a significant percentage of the crop — estimates range up to 50 percent — is low quality JK grade, which fetches only PHP40 to PHP50 per kilo, compared to grade S2, which fetches PHP80 per kilo.
On the other hand, it should be mentioned that Ecuador’s abaca plantations have a very bad reputation for working conditions that approach slave labor. This has aroused international condemnation that likely will have a negative effect on the country’s appeal to foreign buyers.
Locally, the low prices fetched by JK quality fiber discourage young people from growing abaca, and this is leading to an ageing work force.
These observations point to possible solutions to the decline in the market locally: mechanization, drying sheds, higher quality fiber through selection of the best varietals, and pest and disease management,
An outstanding resource for local farmers is Catanduanes State University, which established the Abaca Technology and Innovation Center as a hub for research and development of the abaca industry. It provides extension services designed to improve production and processing.
The center collaborates with the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority, another valuable resource for equipment and training.
Bryce McIntyre, PhD, resides in San Andres. He holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA, and is a former winegrower.