Why Permaculture is Not Working in the Philippines

Permaculture is a potential approach to addressing our climate change and food security challenges in the country this decade. But in spite of its advantages and the wealth of information available online, it still hasn't reached mainstream consciousness. Why is this so? Here are some observations. 

- Large network, weak linkages

Our research showed that there are at least 200 self-proclaimed permaculture practitioners discoverable online in the Philippines. Though not all of these people are verified, they were all connected by common practitioners, organizations, and permaculture teachers. Some of the projects are individually strong, meaning the permaculture designs are ecologically sound on their own. But what is lacking is the establishment of strong relationships and friendships with fellow practitioners while creating biophysical linkages with projects in proximity (in Tagalog, walang permaculture projects na magkakatabi or magkaka-kapitbahay). Permaculture sites in the Philippines exist in isolated "islands." Which leads to the next point.

- Focus on personal resilience, not the community

The main motivation for most practitioners is personal resilience and farm-scale (or home-scale) sustainability as documented in a chapter in this study. This is understandable because permaculture usually appeals to those who have tried to break away from mainstream agriculture or consumerist culture in general. It is indeed too difficult to convince the entire community to be on board on such a paradigm-shifting concept, one that is necessary but out of the normal way of life. 

- Many students, few teachers 

There are many people inquiring online about permaculture training. The problem is that there are only few teachers scattered across the country. I remember my own permaculture teacher, Bert Peeters, tell our class back in 2014 that once we finish our permaculture training we can teach others in our community. Unfortunately, we have no tracer studies yet to follow up on the progress of permaculture alumni in the Philippines. Hopefully, they are teaching permaculture somewhere. Feel free to add to the map if you are a permaculture teacher. 

- Permaculture is knowledge-intensive and prone to information overload

There have been may efforts to reshape and reimagine agriculture in our country. There is Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and RA 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010. Unfortunately, these haven't been promoted and adopted as much as we wanted to. Introducing a "new" concept like permaculture, which has ecological and social components, could be quite intimidating to farmers and people in general. During one of my lectures, someone commented that there is so much to know when applying permaculture. The first design principle of permaculture is to "observe and interact." On that principle alone, it is expected that we be mindful of our surroundings and learn from them. It's a complex world that we live in. That's why we need to invest in education and promote critical-thinking.

- No promotion from any sector

Permaculture awareness in the Philippines has been streaky for the last 5 years. Interest in the topic is difficult to sustain because social media pretty much controls what we see in our newsfeeds. If you don't have any interest in permaculture at all, then you won't see permaculture-related content. Except for an online course that's been in development since 2016, we haven't received any true partnerships or collaborations with any sector.  

- Lack of research

I think every permaculture study that has been published always mentions that there has been a lack of research or literature on the topic. We've been compiling studies since 2016, you can check it out here. When we published in 2017, we thought that this would spark interest in the topic. Honestly, this is not a topic that will get you funding right away (though we did get funding from DOST and SEARCA). So whoever is doing permaculture research right now, good luck and kudos to you. We hope you succeed in your endeavor. But don't expect attention, rewards, or accolades. It's a difficult topic but it's worth it. 

What do you think are other reasons why permaculture is not working in the Philippines?