Dole’s continued expansion—while not benefiting farmers, is neither
fostering the development of healthy local markets, critical to
sustainable development. Instead, its expansion means taking more land
for food export at a time when Filipinos are struggling to feed
themselves. Where the Philippines used to be a net exporter of its
staple food, rice, the country has become the world’s largest importer
of the now expensive commodity.3
The government has begun to provide subsidized rice to the poor due to
the recently doubled cost of imported rice, causing a swelling deficit.4
Taking over more lands for export crops without dealing with the roots
of the food security crisis will only further stunt local markets and
exacerbate matters.5
Capital investment is a necessary part of economic development.
However, Dole’s presence in the Philippines and years of expansion and
employment have shown that capital investment, while important, is not
the only input needed for development, if it is to reach the people.
While it has the power to foster sustainable development through the
creation of decent jobs, Dole instead has become part of the systemic
inequality which plagues the Philippines.
Dole claims that the “development” it brings will combat terrorism in
Mindanao province. Ironically, the corporation’s expansion, if it
continues in the same pattern, may actually fuel terrorism in the
Philippines. The fact that Dole deprives its laborers of basic rights
to regular work, freedom of association, and acceptable conditions at
work has the potential to exacerbate political tensions. This is one of
the reasons GSP mandates that labor rights accompany trade preferences:
“The denial of internationally recognized workers rights in developing
countries tend to perpetuate poverty, to limit the benefits of economic
growth and development, to narrow privileged elites, and to sew the
seeds of social instability and political rebellion.”6
There is, further, a long history in the Philippines of peasant unrest
over precisely the type of land control and inequity that Dole
practices, making the situation potentially dangerous.7
If economic growth is to cause sustainable development, its impact
on the poor must be addressed. Equity and workers rights are necessary
components of healthy development. Dole has promoted neither through
its pineapple production the Philippines.
1“Fortune 500.” CNN Money. 15 Oct. 2008.
2Field research conducted by ILRF
partners in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and
Saranggani between June 2006 and June 2007.
3Bello, Walden. “Manufacturing a Food Crisis.” The Nation (15 May 2008). 15 Oct. 2008.
4“Food crisis in the Philippines: give us this day our daily rice.” Fair Trade Alliance. Fair Trade Web. 15 Oct. 2008.
5De La Torre Ugarte, Daniel G. and Sophia
Murphy. “The Global Food Crisis: Creating an Opportunity for Fairer and
More Sustainable Food and Agriculture Systems Worldwide.” Heinrich Boll
Foundation. Ecofair Trade Dialogue Discussion Papers No. 11 (Oct.
2008).
6House report 98-1090 page 5111.
7Fuwa, Nobuhiko. “Politics and Economics of Land Reform in the Philippines: A Survey.” Chiba University (May 2000).