Poverty and Social Networks in the Philippines

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23401008
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: NAKANISHI Toru 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 教授 (30227839)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): AOYAMA Waka 東京大学, 東洋文化研究所, 准教授 (90334218)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: フィリピン / 貧困 / 社会ネットワーク / 有機農業

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study shows that the organic agriculture can be an important strategy for the poverty reduction by promoting the development of social networks among the poor in the Philippine setting. It has been often explained that the organic agriculture has advantages mainly in environmental conservation and food safety. We verify that it contributes to the improvement of various welfare indices of the poor such as political freedom, productivity of agricultural products and interactions with social networks. This proposition is also illustrated by the fact that ethnic minorities in Negros and Mindanao islands have developed their own organic agriculture by using the techniques peculiar to their communities. It can be also observed that the livelihood strategies of other ethnic minorities in the low-land have been basically to try to keep a distance from the markets or the central government in the Philippines.

Free Research Field

地域研究