Session 1 Access To Land

Access to LandAccess to Food

Theme: The Food Crisis and the Asian Region

Tony Quizon, CARRD18 June 2008, Jakarta

Access to Land

Access to land, farm or a homelot, for a family:

source of livelihood and survival

increased sense of human dignity and security

increased resilience, and opportunity to break out of poverty

For many communities: the right to self-determination, cultural identity & integrity, and autonomy

Access to Land

Access to land, for society, is also:

Necessary first step to reduce unemployment and poverty, to stem rapid migration,

reduce social tensions and conflict,

increase productivity for food security, achieve sustainable management,

improve overall peace

Long-term democratizing effects: reduce overall inequality

Agrarian Reform in the Philippines

Philippine working context: History of agrarian conflict, unrest and

insurgencies Land reforms: 1963, 1972, 1988 (+1998 IPRA) Attempt to implement AR under democratic

setting

20 years later (as of 10 June 2008): 6M hectares covered; 1.5M hectares still to be

covered Remaining areas with highest poverty, unrest 132,620 agrarian cases pending 85% of fisherfolk threatened by eviction Funding by Congress still pending Unrecovered Marcos billions

AR as a “continuing political act” Task is not just transferring land, but reforming

social relations Formula for AR?

Economic and social impacts AR and the “peace dividend”: SWS survey, 1996: “AR as cause of peace

in the countryside”

AR = (LTI + SS) PP LOR + BI

Review and Some Key Lessons

Continuing CSO-World Bank Discussions on Agrarian Reforms

Market-Assisted Land Reforms (MALR) Issue of level-playing field Market access for the poor Land as more than commodity Cannot substitute for reforms Can disrupt reforms, ex, Philippines, by driving up land

prices

Land Administration Projects Technical project only; should not decide property rights Poor could be disenfranchised (knowledge, literacy

issues) Individual titling vs customary land systems Increasing land conflicts

Land and

Food

Farmers entering Philippine Congress, 10 June 2008

Lining up for NFA rice, 14 June 2008

New Threat: The Food Crisis

Converging trends – rising oil prices, agro-fuels, increase in food and commodity prices, potentials for carbon trading – under global trade liberalization, bring about increased competition for land and increase exclusion of the poorest.

Ex: six years ago, the production area for bio-fuel was about 1M hectares; today it covers some 25M hectares (FAO)

Also, growth of the China economy, demand for raw materials & extractive industries (logging, mining)

For many: the issue of food supply & market access

For others: displacement & competition for land

New Threat: The Food Crisis

Access to land not seen as priority by most governments in the context of the food crisis

Recent pronouncements by governments favor large-scale commercial agriculture (HLC, Rome, June 2008): Visions of large-scale commercial agriculture

production (Malaysia: 6,000 hectares in Sarawak for rice cultivation)

No mention of smallholders as drivers for improved agricultural production

Discussions of technology-driven solutions: hybrid rice (China), GM crops, “golden” (green) revolution

Who benefits from higher food prices? 50-60% increase in rice prices; yet farmers get only

12% of the increase

Reviewing CSO Statement to WFS:The Bangkok Declaration, 1995

Talking points:

Right to food vs the right of markets

Food sovereignty; principle of “reducing food kilometers”

Smallholder agriculture Work on four themes: land,

international trade, technology, vulnerable groups

Need for new social contract