Blaming rice farmers for emissions is a blatant cover-up, shielding corporate and industrial polluters from accountability

The Climate Change Network for Community-based Initiatives (CCNCI) strongly condemns the narrative of the Philippine Rice Research Institute and Department of Agriculture blaming rice farmers for rising greenhouse gas emissions. This is a gross distortion that shifts focus away from the true culprits—industrial agriculture and irresponsible land-use policies. Our farmers, already burdened by inequitable systems and insufficient government support, should not be scapegoated for a crisis they did not cause.

The government’s proposed solutions, like alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and carbon trading schemes, only scratch the surface and fail to address the exploitation of farmers. AWD is impractical in many areas due to lack of drainage and unreliable water sources. Carbon trading, meanwhile, allows industrial polluters to continue their destructive practices, profiting from schemes that benefit consultants more than farmers.

Blaming rice farmers for emissions is a blatant cover-up, shielding corporate and industrial polluters from accountability. Large-scale industrial agriculture, particularly the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, is a major contributor to emissions. These fertilizers produce nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than CO2, and accelerate the depletion of soil carbon. Shifting the blame to small-scale rice farmers ignores the scale of damage wrought by profit-driven industries.

What we need is a transition to organic and agroecological farming—systems that regenerate the land and sequester carbon, storing 28% more organic carbon in the soil. Yet, only 0.56% of the Department of Agriculture's budget goes to supporting these sustainable methods. Meanwhile, carbon trading mechanisms continue to marginalize farmers, offering them crumbs while enabling corporations to pollute with impunity.

True climate justice means holding historical polluters accountable. Industrialized nations and corporations must bear the primary responsibility for mitigation. It is unjust to burden farmers, who contribute the least to emissions, with solving the climate crisis. We must demand reparations for the damages they’ve caused, and ensure that the most vulnerable—our farmers—are at the center of climate solutions, not sidelined by market-driven schemes.

Farmers are the stewards of our land, not the villains of climate change. It’s time we stop blaming them and start targeting the real drivers of environmental destruction.

Reference:

https://www.philstar.com/.../rice-farmers-can-earn...