www.asianfarmers.org

FNN, in cooperation with CEDAC, conducted a 3-day training workshop on “Shop Cooperatives” last November 2007 in Phnom Penh under AFA’s technical assistance project.

It was attended by 60 participants, 17 of whom are women, from 9 provinces in Cambodia. It covered topics such as the process and concept of shop cooperatives, concept of business, how to calculate profit, gross-net income and gross-net profit, bookkeeping and recording, and basics of a shop cooperative.

The following are the tools used in the training, which have been translated into English:

Instruction Manual for Bookkeeping System.doc

Financial Report Format

Book keeping format

The group of indigenous farmers in the Philippines, who marched around 1,500 kilometers from Bukidnon province (south of the Philippines) to Metro Manila (north of the Philippines) for around 60 days, finally got to own the land they have been struggling for, after entering into a settlement agreement with San Miguel Corporation, the company who bought the land from the previous owner.

The Settlement agreement provides for the Sumilao farmers to get back 50 of their 144-hectare ancestral land through a deed of donation from San Miguel Corporation and get another 94 hectares through a voluntary offer to sale (VOS) scheme of the Department of Agrarian Reform in adjacent properties in Sumilao, Bukidnon in the coming days or months.

(Photo courtesy of www.sumilaomarch.multiply.com)

Click here for PAKISAMA’s Statement on the Settlement Agreement

PRESS RELEASE on the SUMILAO SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

Reference: PAKISAMA (Soc Banzuela, 09177188986), pakisama_pilipinas@yahoo.com

Thanks But No Thanks

Today, March 29, 2008, one of the most important land reform battles in Philippine history comes closely to an end. The Sumilao farmers will ink a Settlement Agreement with San Miguel Corporation, to be witnessed by the Government and the Church leaders, by lunch time in San Carlos Seminary in Makati .

The Settlement agreement provides for the Sumilao farmers to get back 50 of their 144-hectare ancestral land through a deed of donation from San Miguel Corporation and get another 94 hectares through a voluntary offer to sale (VOS) scheme of the Department of Agrarian Reform in adjacent properties in Sumilao, Bukidnon in the coming days or months.

“Halu-halo ang aming nadarama. Natutuwa kaming malapit nang matapos ang kampanya ng Sumilao farmers. Natutuwa kami para sa kanila nguni’t may awa ring nadarama. Nagagalit kami sa mga ginawa ng San Miguel Corporation at lalo na ng Pamahalaang Arroyo (We have mixed feelings. We are happy the Sumilao campaign is nearing an end. We are happy for the Sumilao farmers but also pity them. We are angry at the various actions of San Miguel Corporation and the Arroyo government!” said Crispino Aguelo, President of the Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka, a national confederation of peasant federations (PAKISAMA).

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As news about food crisis and hunger grab national and international headlines, it is important that we look at the issue in its proper context and from a wider perspective. The article “Five Myths About Food and Hunger” that appeared in a quarterly publication of the Context Institute in 1995 dispels the myth that agrarian reform is passe or does not work. It argues that “not only is agrarian reform an issue of social justice, but redistribution can lead to increases in production at lower cost, as labor-intensive multiple cropping systems produce higher yields with fewer inputs.” It goes on to say that “Only agrarian reform that gives the poor access to land with regular rainfall or irrigation can make a difference. To succeed, peasants also need credit, education, extension services, and marketing channels.” (In the photo: Farmers rally in the Philippines to demand for reform and extension of agrarian reform law.)

Click here to read the article in the In Context website

Soaring food prices and growing hunger and malnutrition worldwide point to a food crisis caused by various factors such as rising demand from major economies, climate and weather-related events, high oil prices, and the rise of biofuels. In an article that appeared in the Washington Post entitled “The New Face Of Hunger” last March 12, 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon describes “the new face of hunger” that is affecting vulnerable communities and proposes steps to be taken in order to beat hunger and meet the Millenium Development Goals. These include “dealing with the increasing consequences of weather-related shocks to local agriculture, as well as the long-term consequences of climate change” and boosting agricultural production. (Photo courtesy of www.worldrevolution.org.)

Click here to read the article in the Washington Post

AFA and AsiaDHRRA Issue Paper. Vol. 3, No. 1. Quezon City, Philippines, February 2008.

The ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint are two important documents that the 40-year old ASEAN recently signed in order to advance it vision of a “sharing and caring community”. Because majority of the people of Southeast Asia are small-scale farmers who depend on agriculture for their existence, it is important to ask how the charter, the blueprint, as well as the various free trade agreements will impact on them.

This issue paper presents basic information on the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint, including updates on ASEAN Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), as well as AFA’s analysis and position on these topics. It was written by Focus on the Global South Program Coordinator Joy Chavez, who has been one of AFA’s resource persons in its regional consultations on ASEAN-related matters.

To download a PDF copy of this issue paper, click here

To order hard copies of this issue paper, get in touch with the AFA Secretariat.

Malou C. Mangahas, The Daily PCIJ, March 19, 2008 at 1:16 pm

A GLOBAL rice-supply crisis is unfolding, and the Philippines, today the world’s top rice importer, will be no comfort zone.

In 2006, every Filipino consumed 118.7 kilos or 2.4 sacks of rice a year. That amounts to a daily per capita rice consumption of 325.21 grams per citizen. The Philippines produces about 90 percent of the rice it needs but also today needs to import up to 2.1 million metric tons, to be able to maintain its two-month inventory. Over the last three months, that inventory has thinned by 20 percent.

In 2006, every Filipino consumed 118.7 kilos or 2.4 sacks of rice a year. That amounts to a daily per capita rice consumption of 325.21 grams per citizen. The Philippines produces about 90 percent of the rice it needs but also today needs to import up to 2.1 million metric tons, to be able to maintain its two-month inventory. Over the last three months, that inventory has thinned by 20 percent.

Click here to ead the article at the Daily PCIJ

AFA elected a new set of Execom officers during its Third General Assembly last March 3, 2008 in Sangnok Resort, Cheonan, South Korea. The election of the new Executive Committee officers of AFA from among its regular member organizations was done in a collegial manner, as AFA has traditionally done in the past two General Assemblies.

The regular members of AFA (FNN from Cambodia, API from Indonesia, PAKISAMA from the Philippines, SORKORPOR from Thailand, KAFF from Korea, and TWADA and TDFA from Taiwan) elected Ms. Sudaporn Sittisathapornkul of SorKorPor as Chairperson, Mr. Sambito of API as Vice-Chairperson, and Mr. Vicente Fabe of PAKISAMA as Treasurer.

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AFA held a Consultation Workshop and 3rd General Assembly last February 28 to March 3, 2008 in Sangnok Resort, Cheonan, South Korea, hosted by the Korean Advanced Farmers’ Federation (KAFF), with the theme “China’s Development, Climate Change and Asian Farmers’ Realities: Old Problems, New Challenges for Farmers’ Organizations in Asia.”

The Consultation-Workshop addressed two emerging issues affecting farmers, China’s development and climate change, in the context of the old problems of weak organizations, inadequate capacities for production and marketing, inadequate government support to agriculture, unjust global trade rules and agreements.

A deeper understanding of these new challenges became an essential input for the Third AFA General Assembly’s setting of thrusts and priority activities for the next two years. It also served as a jump-off point for the review of the World Development Report 2008 on Agriculture produced by the World Bank in an effort to influence it towards benefiting small scale farmers and producers.

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March 20, 2008 By Anne-Laure Constantin, TIP/IATP

In 2008, the United Nations (UN) has chosen to hold its major trade and development conference in Africa. Ministers from all around the world will meet in Accra, the capital of Ghana, starting April 20. In addition to ministers, a crowd of 4,000 international civil servants, civil society activists, business representatives, and journalists is expected to descend on the usually discrete West African capital.

The World Trade Organization (WTO), its Doha “Development” Round and its highly publicized ministerial conferences have received most of the attention over the past ten years. But the UN has its own important forum on trade and development: UNCTAD (the UN Conference on Trade and Development). What’s the point? And what are the stakes of this year’s UNCTAD meeting?

Read the full article at the Trade Observatory website