“At last! The land that we have long been fighting for!,” cries Ka Rene Penas, as he and other Sumilao farmers finally reclaim their ancestral land after more than a decade of struggle. (March 31, 2008, Sumilao, Bukidnon, Philippines) (Photo by Ka Crispin Aguelo)
Rooted in Family Farms In the mid-1980s, family farmers across America were in the fight of their lives. Prices had dropped below the cost of production. Family farmers were told they were inefficient and they had to either get big or get out. Deeply flawed national and international policies were the root cause of the […]
In its regional consultation in Korea last March 2008, farmer leaders from different AFA member organizations agreed with the observation that poor countries are affected most by climate change, although they contribute the least to it. Small scale farmers in Asia are especially vulnerable, as climate change is expected to affect agricultural production, and consequently […]
Despite claims that GMO products can help solve many problems in agricultural production, farmers are wary of, and many of them are strongly against, the use of GMOs, especially for food products, due to ill effects on health and the environment that are being pointed out. The debate rages on, as those who are for […]
Millions of farmers in Asia continue to wallow in poverty due to the basic lack of land. Among AFA member countries, those who have successfully implemented agrarian reform have also seen the development of their agriculture sector and an improvement of the lives of farmers. But in those countries where agrarian reform is absent or […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
