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Lessons and Insights on Access to Land: The Philippine Experience

Presented by ANGOC At the ILC-AoM 23 April 2009 Yak & Yeti Hotel, Kathmandu, Nepal. Lessons and Insights on Access to Land: The Philippine Experience. Overview. 30 million hectares 7,107 islands 80+M population agriculture contributes 20% to GDP 350 years colonial rule

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Lessons and Insights on Access to Land: The Philippine Experience

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  1. Presented by ANGOC At the ILC-AoM 23 April 2009 Yak & Yeti Hotel, Kathmandu, Nepal Lessons and Insights on Access to Land:The Philippine Experience

  2. Overview 30 million hectares 7,107 islands 80+M population agriculture contributes 20% to GDP 350 years colonial rule Independence in 1945 Land categories: out of the 30M hectares: about 15M (50%) are “forest lands” under the state about 12M (40%) are agricultural lands the rest, about 3M (10%) are other categories

  3. Land problem in the Philippines In 1988, the rich 20% owned 80% of the land, while the poorer 80% owned only 20% of the land. Land = wealth power prestige • Most of big landowners are also local politicians & military • About 200 elite families control about 80% of the economy, thru inter-marriages & inter-locking directorates

  4. Importance of access to land: Rural poverty 38% (or 5.1M families) in poverty; earning less than USD100/ month for a family of 5 Poverty is mainly rural and agricultural Rural areas account for 71% of all poor families Peace & stability 400 peasant uprisings in 450 years Economic development Agriculture employs 40% of labor force; provides 23% of GDP Small farms are more productive than large farms, per unit area

  5. Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP): 1998 Targeted to redistribute around 8.1M ha. of agricultural land and integrated social forestry areas to 3.9 million landless tenant farmers Initial financing of Php50 B from sales of government properties, receipts from assets recovered from Marcos ill-gotten wealth, ODA, etc.; Php100 billion when CARP was extended for another 10 years (1998-2008) Covers all agricultural lands, regardless of crop Eligible beneficiaries: owner/cultivator; leaseholders granted permanent use rights over the lands; farmworkers who rendered service for value as an employee or laborer

  6. Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP): 1998 • Land ceiling of 5 hectares; and if applicable 3 hectares for each child more than 15 years of age and actual tilling the land • Land redistribution (w/ annual amortization for 25 years) • Provision of support services • Equal rights to land for women • Participation of CSOs and farmer organizations in implementation

  7. Impact of CARP • Panel data survey in select provinces shows strong owner-cultivatorship and significant declines in tenancy • Macro study indicates that more secure land tenure and secure land ownership enhance the willingness of landowners and beneficiaries to invest • Over 60% of Filipinos say agrarian reform was the main reason for peace in the countryside (1996 SWS survey, 8 years after CARP Law was passed) • Higher incomes of farmer beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries… (However, beneficiaries just slightly above poverty line (External DAR Evaluation)

  8. Challenges of CARP • An uncertain future • Budget issue: CARP will need new funding allocation by landlord-dominated Congress • The remaining lands to be redistributed are difficult • Much of the remaining lands to be redistributed are private lands, with strong landlord resistance • Other forces (climate change, biofuels, land conversions, etc.) • Other pending legislations and initiatives to counteract CARP’s gains (charter change, farmland as collateral, etc)

  9. Insights and Lessons Learned • Agrarian reform is an ongoing political act • Agrarian reforms must be based on legal framework (1987 Constitution – principles of social equity & ecological balance) AR = (LTI + SS) PP LR + BI AR = (Land Tenure + Support Services) x Participation Landlord Resistance + Bureaucratic Inertia

  10. Insights and Lessons Learned • Speed & political credibility of program implementation • Technical & institutional capacity • Need reliable data to support advocacy for AR, through continuous documentation, tooling and dissemination on the program

  11. Insights and Lessons Learned • Need for National Land Use Law to rationalize resource use and harmonize overlapping policies • At least 11 laws on access to land in the Philippines: CARP, IPRA, Fisheries Code, UDHA, LGC, AFMA, NIPAS, Forestry Code

  12. Insights and Lessons Learned • Need for local structures for local dialogue & negotiation • Importance of self-organization & empowerment of rural poor women and men

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