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ALTERNATIVE TRADE


by Ohashi Seiko

Seiko Ohashi has worked with AMPO magazine for the past 13 years. Three years ago,
she started working with Alter Trade Japan. Seiko is also a director of ARENA. For more
information on Alter Trade, contact Alter Trade Japan, 3-9-6 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku,

Tokyo, Japan 169. This article is reproduced with permission from Asian Regional
Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA).



    In 1986, several people’s organizations in Japan started a solidarity network called the Japan Committee for Negros Campaign (JCNC) which included individuals from different organizations and movements. Alter Trade Japan and the concept of alternative trade were born out of the eight years of solidarity work between these Japanese groups, and organizations in the Philippines.

    In the early 1980s, there was an appeal for help from the Philippines to the groups in Japan. The fall in international sugar prices had led to acute starvation on the island of Negros. Negros Island, one of the islands in southern Philippines, is symbolic of the feudal system still in existence in the Philippines. Only two percent of the population owns 98 percent of the land. It has a sugarcane based monoculture cash crop and the fall in the international price of sugar had a severe impact on Negros as 70 percent of the total population was engaged in the sugar industry. The acute poverty in the region combined with the fall in sugar prices resulted in a few starvation deaths and in 150,000 children starving. The Japanese groups responded to the appeal for help.

    However, we realized that the form of aid (collecting money and sending food and medicines) was like Band-Aid, it was patchwork, and would not eradicate the root cause of poverty which was landlessness. People would constantly face the threat of starvation as long as they could not own land. If you own or possess nothing you cannot produce anything. And so starvation was frequent in the region.

   As the people in Negros are employed on a daily wage basis in the sugar industry, land ownership is extremely important to them. In the early 1980s, 20,000 hectares of land was under occupation of the sugar workers. Land occupation basically meant that though the people did not have legal rights to the land, they were cultivating food crops like vegetables, etc. on it. If the people only grew sugarcane they faced the threat of starvation.

    The Japanese groups started holding frequent and indepth discussions with the people in Negros on issues of aid and landlessness. The people in Negros said that though they were starving they did not want fish but needed fishnets. When asked why they needed fishnets and not fish, they replied that with fishnets they could become self reliant. Their need to become self sufficient and self reliant was the basis for the discussions. Some of the issues discussed included questions of tilling and cultivating the land, and how and what food to cultivate.

    But another problem faced by the people was marketing. Even if they could grow a crop and there was a good harvest, it was still not profitable for them because the market was controlled by middlemen. The farmers could not sell their produce directly to the consumers and this situation could not lead to self sufficiency. We discussed marketing systems at length and came up with the idea of setting up an alternative people to people trade. We realized that to be self reliant, the most important thing is the establishment of a domestic market because if you rely on exports you cannot avoid an export oriented economy. However, if you have nothing it is extremely difficult to think of becoming self reliant, and export of a cash crop seemed to be the only possible way to work towards the quest for self reliance.

    That’s how the Japanese side of the solidarity movement, which was thinking of going in for some sort of export-import trade or relations, came to be involved in Negros and the banana trade.

 

The Consumers’ Movement

     In Japan, the consumers’ movement has a very long history. After the students uprising in the 1960s, the leaders of the movement went out and tried to organize the housewives. These housewives were not politically conscious nor did they have any political experience. But slowly they became concerned about chemicals and related health issues because of Minamata and other industrial diseases. In the 1980s, the anti-nuclear movement was very strong in Japan and this also created public awareness on health and environmental issues.

    So, the leaders of the consumers’ movement went into the middle class areas and talked of organic agriculture and safe foods. Many mother were afraid of the chemically contaminated foods which they were giving to their babies and children and they soon joined the consumers’ movement.

     In Japan, the consumers’ movement has direct links with the Japanese producers and farmers. They also have their own delivery system so they can bypass existing marketing systems. The delivery system is located at different centers and members of the consumers’ cooperative organize their neighbors – about five to ten families – to order and collect the goods from their homes. So, if you are the leader of your team, the center will deliver the cartons of vegetables and other produce to your house and then you are the one to organize the other families in your neighborhood to distribute the goods.

     We set up Alter Trade Japan (ATJ) in 1989, as a corporation together with four major consumers cooperatives. Each cooperative has around 220,000 members and so we have potentially one million families in Japan in our network. At ATJ, we decided that each product we distribute would have its own message from the producer, so that the consumer knows who the producer is, why the produce is important and why it is important that she buys from these producers.

 

Turning Loss To Gains

    We had no idea or experience of running a business which involved importing commodities from another country. The people in Negros were also inexperienced as were the people from the NGOs and POs (people’s organizations), who were helping the farmers. All these people, including the farmers, came together to form an alternative trade cooperative which is now a sort of a business arm of people’s organizations.

    We went through a long process – many discussions on several issues – and finally decided that the Balangon, a variety of banana, would be the product ATJ would import from the Philippines. As Japanese and as consumers from a developed country, we did not want to import a staple food from the Philippines that was a regular part of the Filipino diet – the staple food should be left for the Filipinos. The Balangon, a green banana, is not consumed in this area by the local people. Before the crisis in the sugar industry, these bananas grew wild and were fed to pigs or sold at a very cheap price to middlemen. When we visited the area, we saw these bananas lying there and thought of importing them to Japan and in many ways this commodity – the green banana which has a sour taste – was an ideal commodity. It was neglected in the Philip-pines but appreciated in Japan as they are tastier than the chemically treated multinational bananas; the banana skin is quite thick so they can be transported safely; the bananas which the Filipinos like to eat are thin skinned and will not survive the long journey to Japan without chemicals.

     In the beginning it was extremely difficult to run this business of alternative trade because of our lack of experience. And despite our lack of experience, we wanted to start a business dealing in totally chemical-free bananas! We consulted many professionals and they all said “Impossible!” Bananas are delicate fruit and companies like Dole and Delmonte spray their fruit 22 times with different chemicals and this spraying continues even after the fruit has been harvested. We were told repeatedly, that it was impossible to transport and sell chemical free bananas. But we decided to give it a try. Our first, second and third shipment of bananas to Japan were a total failure and when the bananas arrived in Japan they were all black and rotten.

     Another problem we encountered was the militarisation in Negros. When we started our trading, the military set up 17 detachments in the area where we have our operations. Our second shipment was stopped and inspected by the military on the claims that they were looking for subversive documents, but all they found were bananas and by the time they released the consignment, the bananas were all spoilt.

     However, these were learning experiences for us and we managed to turn these disasters to our advantage. For example, after the consignment was damaged by delay caused by the military, we printed one million leaflets apologizing to consumers in Japan and informing them of the military action and the militarisation in Negros under the Aquino government which was the cause of our failure to deliver their orders. The housewives, who received these leaflets in their kitchens, soon started asking questions like: “What is this militarisation? What is the Aquino government? What are human rights issues?” They then initiated group discussions and studies on the Philippines and the problems and issues faced by the Filipino people.

     Bananas from the Philippines are sold in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, but again these are from multinational companies like Dole and Delmonte and are oppressive bananas from the plantations. But the bananas we import are from the mountainous region and are wild, natural bananas.

     In Japan, the consumers are very conscious of the use of chemicals in food production and they really appreciate these bananas which are without chemicals. We started our trade operations by importing 10 tons of bananas a year for the first two years and gradually the quantity has increased and many of the hitches have smoothened out and even the quality of the bananas have improved.

    In five years, the total volume of our imports now stands at around 150 tons a month. Compared with the total amount of bananas imported into Japan by the multinationals, this figure is extremely small and stands at 0.2 percent. Our target is to corner one percent share of the total market. Though our share in the market is small, our trade has grown from 10 tons a year to over 1,500 tons per year. These bananas are sold every month to over 700,000 families in Japan.

    Our market in Japan grew through word of mouth, and as women who wanted chemical free food heard about these green, very tasty bananas, they started ordering them.

    Earlier, there were no farmers’ organizations in the area though the people in the area had been organized by progressive Christians groups. After the setting up of this business – alternative trade – they again got together and founded the Balangon Growers’ Association (BGA). It began with a membership of 200 families and now the membership totals 600 families.
 

     When we first started this trade, following the appeal made by the people’s organizations, the people had a very economistic idea which was easy to succumb to. It was very individualistic – each family was concerned about its own needs and they wanted to sell more to earn more.

    However, our trade is an alternative. It is alternative in the sense that it is completely different from the capitalist system. We see our trade as a means to benefit the community and for building up the community spirit. Our work is directed towards fulfilling these aims and the founding of the farmers’ association was a step in this direction.

    The alternative business was going well when we were struck down by another disaster! A super typhoon struck the area in 1990, totally damaging the houses and banana trees. The first time the consignment of bananas was destroyed by military intervention and the second time it was by the super typhoon. The farmers had to wait for a year for the bananas to grow. But this setback had a positive impact on us. We had the time to reflect on our activities, brainstorm and discuss future plans.

     Out of these reflections and discussions the idea of a five year development programme was born. This idea and initiative came from the farmers. This area in Negros has been completely neglected by the government. There are neither schools nor roads and the idea for community work came from the people.

     According to the farmers their time frame was and has been the present – today – what do we eat tonight? How do we feed the baby tomorrow? Now they felt that they had to plan for the future and they could now do so because of the alternative trade. Their plans or dreams for the future went into framing the Five Year Development Plan, and given their notion of time, five years is a very long time. Basically, the Plan will build a vibrant community and rejuvenate the productivity/fertility of the land in their area – where they have no land titles but have lived for more than three generations. This Five Year Development Plan has some targets and monitors or indicators. For example, after five years they want to be able to eat rice and not sweet potatoes. The staple food was the sweet potato as they could not afford to grow much rice. The Plan should enable them to eat three meals a day, buy new clothes at least three times a year, send their children to school and have some kind of health care.

    A year after the super typhoon, the farmers had a good harvest and we started our trade again. We see the banana trade as a kind of engine that will pull the people out of their poverty. For the people in Negros, it was the beginning of earning some cash, which of course made them happy, and the area saw a tiny economic “boom”. ATJ pays around 45 centavos (100 centavos = 1 peso) for each banana, we do not pay for a bunch, and this helps the farmer whether the harvest is good or bad. This cash income was what attracted people in the area to grow bananas. By 1992-1993, everyone started growing these bananas so that they could get the cash income. And then another disaster struck! Towards the latter part of 1993, a mysterious virus attacked and destroyed the banana crop.

     This again led to some very long discussions and the main issue discussed was ecology. The farmers wondered whether they were growing too many bananas and thereby destroying the ecological balance in the mountains. This monoculture of growing only one crop, this particular kind of banana, was probably creating problems. They felt that if there was intercropping and they planted coffee, ginger and other crops there would be fewer chances of disease. So, the farmers realized that they should not depend too much on bananas even though 80 percent of their income in 1993 depended on bananas. As they said, “We need ecological balance to go hand in hand with economic balance.” These days around 50 percent of their income comes from bananas and the other 50 percent comes from raising goats, chickens and pigs or other crops like ginger, etc.

    I think this project has hope. Even though there has been starvation in the area, natural disasters have struck the area and affected the people, they have survived. They are always willing to work and try out new ways of doing things. For example, the soil here is very poor and if some NGO had given the people a manual on soil enrichment methods, etc. and asked them to implement it, they would not have succeeded. We have known of such experiments which have ended in total failure. But in this case, it was the farmers who started thinking about their problems and talking amongst themselves, they decided on certain remedial actions, experimented with them and have continued this process.

     The project and the Five Year Development Plan have already had some success, people eat three meals a day and their incomes have gone up two or three times. However, in terms of agricultural production, the situation is still very poor. The problem is to find means of improving soil fertility. It’s only after this that community building on any scale can start and their dependency on the banana trade will lessen.

     This project, on alternative trading, was started not as a business venture but as part of the solidarity movement. But at the same we want to make it commercially viable because only then can we have a socio-economic programme that will build a sustainable community. If we succeed then maybe we can transfer the model to other areas. This is a pilot project. Earlier, the Five Year Development Plan was to have ended in 1996, but the farmers have decided to extend it till the year 2000.

     So far I have been talking about the producers and their story, now let me tell you something about the production site and system. This operation, shipping bananas to Japan, involves around 1,000 families who are the beneficiaries of the project. The farmers pick the bananas which grow on the mountains and bring them to the buying center. The buying center is accessible by road and so it is possible for trucks to get there unlike the areas where the bananas grow. From here the bananas are taken to the packing center where packers wash and pack them. This work is done by the sugarcane workers in the lowlands. Again around 300 to 400 families are engaged in this work. From the packing center the consignment is taken to Bacolod, the capital city of Negros, where the urban poor community, who are also organized, do the loading and shipping. So, different peoples’ organizations are engaged in the process – from growing the crop to shipping it to Japan.

     This is a unique experiment. For example, we need only 45 full time workers at the packing center for packing and quality control. When it was realized that many people were unemployed because of the crisis in the sugar plantations, the 45 workers and their families decided that they should share their income. Now 300 families are involved in the packing process. People from different areas have organized themselves into teams which now share the work. The people who are Christians have already been organized by the local church in some forms and ways of sharing. Though this system is not efficient in economic terms, we find that it continues to work and provides work for 300 families.

     In 1993, the people started another experiment. After hearing about the Japanese cooperatives distribution system, they turned to the domestic market and are experimenting with people’s marketing. Earlier, empty trucks went to the buying center to pick up the consignment of bananas, now the trucks bring in basic commodities. The farmers in Negros do not have rice, fish and clothes, and the markets for these basic goods are far away. Now the farmers from each chapter note down the goods and the quantity required by the people in their areas and the trade cooperatives send the commodities to them. The farmers have their own stores in the area where they sell the goods, prices of which are marked up by two to five percent. This profit goes towards the development fund of the Five Year Development Plan. They are building up alternative community stores in the area. The shops buy their commodities from fishers’ groups, urban poor groups, and rice from sugar workers who are cultivating rice on occupied land. It seems like every year we initiate a new project or experiment!

 

Reaching Out

     It is very important for Alter Trade Japan to conscientise the Japanese middle class as the majority of the people in Japan belong to that class. When we sell them our products which are free of chemicals and pollutants, we inform them of the situation of people in other countries and the role of Japanese capital in these places. For example, the banana for us is not only a commodity to sell, it is a symbol – a means of educating and communicating with the middle class consumers in Japan. The banana is a newsletter. The consumers in Japan are familiar with the nice, beautiful, even-colored bananas which are considered to be of a high quality and so the multi-national banana is beautiful for them. But the bananas we import are ugly, spotted, black – look almost rotten – and sometimes have mould. Naturally, we had many complaints from the consumers.

     In an effort to inform the Japanese consumers, we invited the leaders of the consumers groups on an exposure trip to the mountains in Negros. Now about 80 leaders visit Negros every year and have direct links with the producers and can understood why we are engaged in this particular trade. And gradually they, the Japanese consumers, are talking about South-North relations. And in this way we have initiated discussions about the relationship between Japan and the Philippines and Asia.

     They know that Japan is very rich and prosperous, but now they have started questioning the origins of this wealth. With the exposure trips to the Philippines, they have seen the way many Japanese companies operate in the Philippines – polluting the country and depriving it of its natural resources. They are shocked, for example, by the fact that even though Philippines comprises so many islands, people eat canned fish and even this is manufactured by Japanese companies. The exposure trip was quite a shock to the Japanese.

     Yes, the Japanese consumer activists have the theories but they are still very innocent and naive. The exposure trips are eye-openers and the consumers have changed, especially the women, as they know the issues, situation and have the facts. They are the first to ask “What’s wrong?” And when there is a problem now, they start organizing their communities for some actions. Now even if the quality of the banana is bad, there are few complaints as the people understand the problems. So if there is no consignment of bananas because the crop has been damaged by disease, the consumers start their own discussions on issues like sustainable production, sustainable alternative trading and how they can support it.

    We have found that by using the banana as a medium of communication there is a greater response from the consumers than if we had used common mediums like leaflets. Through this naturally grown banana, we have managed to get much more information across to the Japanese consumers.

    Alter Trade Japan does not want to stay only in Negros, but this is where we have had our basic experiences and so before we expand to other places we want to evaluate the Five Year Development Plan in relation to the aims of creating sustainability, self reliance and community building. And only when we have some concrete evidence of its success will we consider moving to other areas. In the future, even though the banana may still be traded, we may trade other commodities and if there is another organization that approaches us and has similar aims, we will seriously consider working with them and expanding our work.

    At present, aside from the bananas from Negros, ATJ is importing shrimps and prawns from Indonesia kimchi from farmers’ associations in Korea, coffee from Ecuador, and sesame and leather bags from Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, the economy, after the elections, is almost stagnant. The Sandinistas have a factory which manufactures leather goods and they are interested in creating a people’s alternative economy and so we are now thinking of working with groups there. However, these commodities are imported in small amounts and the banana which has enriched us remains our symbol and is also our main import.

     We do not want to make profits from the banana as it is our symbol for alternative trade. We have conducted a study which showed that we need at least three major commodities for sale otherwise we cannot sustain ourselves and so we are now choosing our commodities with great care. Frozen foods, for example, may be more profitable and easier to sell. However, commodities should not be the priority, the people are – and we have to see how we can utilize commodities to create different levels of solidarity.

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