Encouraging life as farmers - “Your Own Tomatoes Really Are Sweeter”
Encouraging life as farmers - “Your Own Tomatoes Really Are Sweeter”
"My father was 103 years old when he died a year ago. In the countryside, he ate his own healthy fruit and vegetables, and he drank alkaline water from a stream. I know, it's an ideal situation that definitely doesn't exist everywhere, but I want his life to serve as a testimony that living in an unpolluted environment with basic but sufficient facilities offers a certain guarantee that one will live a long and happy life."
But one must match words to deeds and Zenaida (Zen) Delica Willison is exactly this kind of person. She will be retiring this year from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She hopes to establish her own demonstration farm that will feature organic agriculture together with her husband, who also works for the UNDP. They already own 5 hectares of land in Batangas City, about 100 kilometres outside of Manila. "I am fortunate that my husband and I feel the same way." There is already a lifestyle centre for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including vegetarianism, called the Talumpok Lifestyle Center. The ground floor is used for lectures, workshops and for enjoying meals. The second floor includes the bedrooms. There is also a church. "In 1986, my life changed radically when I joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is the best thing that ever happened to me."
The idea is that this project will serve as an inspiration for others to get involved. Delica Willison and her husband want to show city dwellers that life outside the city also has its significant advantages and charms. "The way you lead your life can serve as an example to others. There are never any absolute guarantees that what you do will have an impact. But, in your life, you have to do what you can within the realm of possibilities."
The lifestyle they are promoting is patterned after NEWSTART: The N stands for Nutrition. Delica Willison: "You have to eat the right foods in the correct quantities and at the right time. We will teach people how to cook well and with good ingredients." The E stands for Exercise. "We need to be active: move, walk, ride a bicycle, climb, etc. Even in rural areas, people are no longer used to walking far to go to work or school for example: they use scooters or motorbikes." The W stands for Water, which underscores the importance of "drinking a lot of pure alkaline water to help neutralise the acid levels in our bodies. At least eight glasses a day." The S, for Sunshine: a source of vitamin D. The T stands for Trust in God, which Willison says is at the core of a righteous lifestyle. R stands for Rest: we need at least eight hours of sleep every day, Delica Willison claims, plus a full day's rest every week. The last T stands for Temperance. "Do not use anything that is bad for your body, such as alcohol, tobacco or drugs, and don't exaggerate the good things either."
The farm is not yet fully operational. "We are busy planting trees. Fruit trees such as mango, coconut, banana, avocado, papaya, and tamarind. But also mahogany and nara. And there are also vegetable gardens." A lot of people have come to look, especially city dwellers from Manila and Batangas. "They enjoy coming here, to get away from the polluted city and become reinvigorated by the country life. After they establish themselves here they will begin to offer seminars, lectures or visitors can enjoy Zenaida's brother's bonsai garden or his koi carp pond. People will be able to camp here by simply pitching a tent. Guests will not be required to pay, although most visitors donate some money for cleaning. After their stay, visitors return to their urban lifestyles because very few people are willing to get their hands dirty. And farming is not easy, I know from my own experiences. When people are still young, they hear that they have to get good grades in school, that they have to study hard so they can get a nursing job or something equivalent in the United States or Europe, and there attain a luxurious lifestyle. That is the mentality of entire generations of Filipinos: their hope lies in the West. So why should they learn to plant tomatoes and grow fruit?" Yes, a diploma is important, but not at the expense of a holistic lifestyle.
Delica Willison believes that an integrated approach is necessary to make country living appealing again. "This should begin at school, where youngsters could learn how to plant tomatoes in school gardens. They should be taught to appreciate this type of work. Children have to experience how it is to taste the fruits of their own labour - they really do taste sweeter!"
The demonstration farm and the lifestyle centre are seamlessly aligned with her great desire: the revitalisation of agriculture and the revaluation of the countryside. "My perspective has always focused on the local community."
Dreaming Our Own Dreams
As a young student in the early seventies, Delica Willison was actively involved in opposing then-Filipino President and dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda. Delica Willison was eventually arrested in 1974 and received a substantial prison term. She was imprisoned together with her two-year-old daughter. She was eventually released after spending 801 days in prison due to international pressure organised by Amnesty International. "But we have to dream our dreams and be prepared to pay the price to make those dreams come true."
Delica Willison studied nursing, sociology, business administration and public health in the Philippines and development practice including humanitarian and refugee law in England. She is considered an expert in the field of disasters and disaster risk reduction and has built up an impressive track record. "Natural hazards turn into a disaster only when vulnerable people are not able to cope. For example, because they are completely unprepared. This goes for natural disasters such as typhoons, but also manmade disasters. Thus, it is important to design prevention, mitigation, preparedness and emergency response measures. It is my job to point this out to governments, organisations and people in general." She has been based in Bangkok since 2005, where she works as a UNDP advisor in the field of disaster risk reduction.
She admits it was 'pretty tough' putting her ideals into words, "because there are so many problems in my country that are screaming to be addressed all at once: corruption, unemployment, low productivity. But if I had to start somewhere, I would start in the countryside. I want to encourage farming once again."
This desire obviously comes from her dislike of Asia's mega-cities. "Practically all of Asia's cities are terribly congested. There is an utter lack of discipline. Not only is traffic a stinking mess, but it is also next to impossible to walk on a sidewalk or get around easily because of how shops, restaurants and workshops sell their goods. Regulations are not enforced. We are so unhealthy because of the lifestyle that urban living promotes. If the countryside were to be redeveloped, we could encourage people to go and live there."
Magnet
The economic possibilities that cities offer act like a magnet for the rural population, for whom the economic prospects are indeed "very small" and the chances of improvement virtually nonexistent. "Because it is becoming more and more difficult to be a farmer due to the land issues, farmers end up migrating to the city where they often end up joining the growing informal sector. They are then faced with housing, health and safety issues. If something unforeseen happens in their lives, if they suffer a setback, this can quickly turn into a personal catastrophe. Because they have nothing and nobody to fall back on. In the countryside, at least they could still grow their own food."
It won't be easy to convince farmers to remain behind in the rural areas, or to encourage former farmers to return to the countryside, where there is often the threat of political armed conflict. "Militarisation has a negative impact on local farmers, who are subject to various restrictions. This is coupled with the increasing cost of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and agricultural machinery, and the difficulties in accessing low-interest credit. So, any migration back to rural areas must go hand in hand with various incentives such as the promotion of organic farming, setting up and providing good health care services, and organising the sale of agricultural products. All these things have to occur simultaneously."
The city is attractive for many real reasons: there are more economic opportunities and children have a better chance of getting a good education. "That is true. That is why it's not enough to say that people 'must' return to the countryside. Education in rural areas must improve considerably by, among other things, paying better wages to the teachers so that the good teachers will not abandon rural community schools. Today, the best teachers head to the city, where they can earn more, and the bad ones stay behind. It's also equally important to have a good health care system in place. In rural areas, at present, there are no doctors, not even midwives." This health care doesn't even have to be expensive. "In the cities, health care is about hospitals and expensive medicines. But in rural areas, there is a lot of knowledge about traditional health practices, herbal medicine and preventive care."
Each region needs to utilise its own specific resources and measures. A fishing community is different from a peasant village in the mountains. "If you know that a certain community is unable to grow rice or grains, but it excels in making special handicrafts, then you have to support the latter. Each community produces what best fits that particular community. Make sure that these communities can sell their products to each other, so they can take as much advantage as possible of each other's expertise. This requires a proper transportation system. I don't claim that this is the only solution, but it could be a hopeful step in the right direction."
Delica Willison thinks that the city will continue to be the centre of cultural and intellectual life. "There will always be people going to the cities. That's not a development I want to stop. But I do want to see a balanced approach between urban and rural areas. If you promote resilient cities, you should also promote resilient rural areas. The same goes for safety, health care, education, and tourism: distribute things fairly across the country. I'm not advocating lowering the development of developed areas. But start developing underdeveloped rural areas. We need to correct these skewed kinds of development.
Nurse becomes a disaster expert
Zenaida Delica Willison (1950) was brought up taking care of others. In her village, her father was a traditional herbalist with informal training who healed people for free using simple means and medicines using bark, leaves, water, and heat. Young Zenaida also wanted to be a doctor, but her parents didn't think that was a good idea. Instead she was encouraged to become a nurse. After two years, she switched to business administration at the Lyceum of Batangas, where, like so many of her generation, she got involved in protests against the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. She eventually relocated to Manila. After four years of protesting against the dictatorship, she was arrested in 1974 and jailed together with her two year old daughter. Delica Willison studied in the Philippines and in England. She has worked in disaster risk reduction her entire working life and also serves as a consultant for various organisations. Her daughter now works in the same sector as her mother.
Read more about this subject
-
Blog / 15 April 2024
The year of truth: EU Member States urged to combat deforestation
The EU is the world's largest "importer of deforestation," due to the huge volumes of unsustainably produced soy, timber, palm oil, and other raw materials that EU member states import. After many years of delay, the European Parliament and the European Council passed a law in December 2023 to address this problem: The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Both ENDS is part of a broad coalition of organizations that have been pushing for this European legislation. However, there is now a serious delay, and perhaps even postponement, of the law's implementation. Objections have been raised by a number of member states, who are sensitive to lobbying by certain business sectors and producer countries.
-
News / 4 April 2024
EU ECA fossil fuel phase-out tracker reveals EU Member States’ lagging commitment to Paris Agreement goals in export credit policies
Our new report titled EU ECA fossil fuel phase-out tracker by Both ENDS, Counter Balance and Oil Change International sheds light on the concerning lack of harmony between EU Member States' export credit climate policies.
-
Blog / 4 April 2024
If we women don't speak up, no one will speak for us
By Maaike Hendriks and Tamara MohrThis February women environmental defenders from around the world met each other in Indonesia. All these defenders face structural violence. GAGGA, the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action, supports these women. This meeting in Indonesia provided a unique space for women, trans-, intersex and non-binary people who are often the subject of conversation but rarely have the opportunity to engage with each other and meet other defenders from around the world. For they are all amazingly knowledgeable, strong and resilient women whom we should take seriously.
-
News / 2 April 2024
The Climate lawsuit against Shell
Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) and 6 other organisations are confidently heading into Shell’s appeal of the 2021 climate ruling, which will take place on April 2nd in The Hague. In the landmark lawsuit against the oil and gas company, the court decided that Shell must slash its CO2 emissions by 45%, in line with international climate agreements.
-
News / 29 March 2024
Both ENDS visit Tweede Kamer to talk about destructiveness of dredging worldwide
This week several Both ENDS colleagues visit Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal to meet Christine Teunissen and Luc Stultiens with partners from Mozambique, Indonesia and the Filippines to talk about the destructiveness of dredging worldwide and especially in projects with the aid of the Dutch government.
Read their plea
-
News / 27 March 2024
Changing of the guard: Paul Engel and Leida Rijnhout on the unique strength of Both ENDS
After eight years as chair of the Both ENDS Board, Paul Engel is now passing on the baton to Leida Rijnhout. In thus double interview, we look back and forwards with the outgoing and incoming chairs. Paul Engel sets the ball rolling on an enthusiastic note: “This organization decides itself what it is going to do, and does it very well. As the Board, we help and use our networks to provide support”. A conversation about taking the lead in systemic change and working with others around the world.
-
Press release / 25 March 2024
Dredging destruction; worldwide research into Dutch dredgers
Dredging Destruction: Report reveals how Dutch dredging companies are systematically destroying human lives and the environment around the world with the help of taxpayers’ money
The Netherlands is providing billions of euros in support for dredging projects by Boskalis and Van Oord around the world. All of these projects are destroying human lives and the environment. The Dutch government’s policy to protect people and planet is failing systemically. And after twelve years of studies and talking, there are no real improvements. It is time for a thorough clean-up of government support for the dredging sector.
-
Publication / 25 March 2024
-
News / 19 March 2024
Both ENDS - Remarkably Special
At Both ENDS, we hold our own responsibility, self-direction, an open feedback culture, and personal development in high regard. Chaos, you might think? Not at all, it leads to an effective way of working with much enjoyment. The flat organizational structure that Both ENDS has been implementing since 2016 is founded on collectivity. In this, you can also see our aim of 'Connecting people for change' reflected.
-
News / 12 March 2024
Equality as a key for international trade
Trade has been in the global spotlight once again in recent times. Recently, ministers from around the world gathered in Abu Dhabi at the WTO for negotiations on world trade in the coming years. However, participants from civil society were silenced. Never before has their freedom been so severely restricted at the WTO. In a time when geopolitical tensions are escalating by the day, it is crucial to prioritize equality in international trade. -
Event / 12 March 2024
From Policy To Practice: Funding Locally-led Gender-Just Climate Action
A discussion on the intersection of climate and gender justice - specifically on financing mechanisms for gender-just climate solutions!
-
News / 6 March 2024
Inspire inclusion at Women's day!
Happy Women's Day!
Friday March 8th we celebrate a gender equal world; free of stereotypes, bias, and discrimination. Around the world women are powers of change. We proudly present you; the voices of the next generation of environmental leaders of the JWH initiative. All our grantees are driving change in the environmental sector and have a strong say about the inclusive world.
-
News / 6 March 2024
Export Credit Agencies and development finance in the EU
We are seeing increased interest in the EU for blending different development financial instruments with export credits, even though export credits are not fit for this purpose. The European Commission is developing plans for using so-called export credits for financing everything from raw materials, to development projects, to weapons. A new report of Counter Balance is shedding light on the significant environmental and social impacts of projects financed by ECAs.
-
Press release / 4 March 2024
Dutch government calls for investigation into Malaysian timber certification
The Dutch government expects PEFC International to undertake an investigation into its own role as a forest certification system, using the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS). "It is about time the Dutch government takes a leading role in ensuring Malaysian timber entering The Netherlands is not associated with deforestation and human rights abuses," states Paul Wolvekamp of Both ENDS. "Considering that the Dutch government has the ambition to build 900.000 houses in the immediate future, involving massive volumes of timber, such as timber from Malaysia for window frames, builders, contractors, timber merchants and local governments rely on the Dutch government to have its, mandatory, timber procurement better organised, i.e. from reliable, accountable sources'.
-
Blog / 27 February 2024
Partners fighting for rights within natural resource exploration in Uganda
A recent visit to Uganda highlighted the country as the latest example of ethical, environmental and human rights dilemmas brought forth by natural resource exploration.
Under the guise of economic prosperity and energy security, the future of Uganda’s forests, lakes, national parks, and by extension that of the people that depend on these resources, is increasingly endangered. Both ENDS partners in Uganda work with local communities to preserve these natural environments and the livelihoods that come from it.
-
Blog / 26 February 2024
Brumadinho: 5 years without justice
On January 25, 2019, Brumadinho region witnessed a tragedy-crime that claimed 272 lives, including two unborn children, affectionately called "Jewels" in response to VALE’s declarations that the company, as a Brazilian jewel, should not be condemned for an accident. However, the investigations about B1 dam collapse, at Córrego do Feijão Mine, showed that the scar left on the community and environment was not an accident, but VALE negligence.
-
Blog / 26 February 2024
Exploring sustainable farming practices with partners in Indonesia
From land regeneration to improving soil health – trees play a crucial role in almost all our ecosystems. Agroforestry makes use of these benefits by combining agriculture and forestry. Agroforestry, and the reforestation and conservation efforts that are part of it, improves biodiversity and climate resilience, as well as the livelihoods of the farming communities involved.
-
Blog / 26 February 2024
Impacts of the fossil fuel sector in Guanabara Bay
Last September, together with our Brazilian partner FASE, Marius Troost of Both ENDS visited Guanabara Bay (near Rio de Janeiro) to map the impacts of the fossil fuel sector there. During the trip, he was struck by the braveness and fearlessness of the local fisherfolk who protest the injustices faced by the people who live around Guanabara Bay and about the damage done to the environment.
-
News / 14 February 2024
Petition to protect the Saamaka people and the Amazon Forest
The Saamaka People, the Afro-descendant tribe of Suriname, have preserved close to 1.4 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest. They have for decades urged the government to recognise their ancestral territorial land rights.
-
News / 8 February 2024
The litmus test for the devastating race track in Lombok
A race track for international motor bike events in Lombok continues to worry human rights experts around the world. Both ENDS and its partners are increasingly concerned about the project’s implications for ethical standards in global development financing going forward for it continues to hurt the most basic social and environmental safeguards.