The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of 1986 had been the most
far reaching postwar institutional change in rural Philippines. To evaluate the dynamic impact
of CARP in the banana sector, we have compared the development of smallholders in both the
domestic market and export chains. For exports the reform introduced contract agriculture between
cooperatives of small Cavendish banana growers and export firms.
Small farmers of banana cultivars like Lakatan supply the crop individually to open
domestic market channels. Incomes and living conditions of reform beneficiaries improved significantly
compared to former plantation workers wages, but remained below the official family
living wage rate. Per Kg. of bananas the income of non-reformed domestic market growers has
been of the same magnitudes as for the export chain. However, the percentage of the latter has
been much lower in terms of the final consumers’ prices. The farmers of the domestic market
have also more upgrading opportunities to organize cooperatives and reduce production and
transaction costs. The export contract growers have already cooperatives and for upgrading will
need the consent of powerful downstream agents in the chain. The reason for the limited impact
of CARP is the power concentration by five multinationals and four influential Filipino families,
which dominate the profitable wholesale supply and export stages of the banana chain.