Asia and the Pacific

Articles, research and communiques related to land reform or landless struggles in Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Rim nations.

FINAL DECLARATION OF THE ASIA PACIFIC PEOPLE CONFERENCE ON RICE AND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY - Jakarta - Indonesia, 14-18 May 2006
June 29, 2006 - We recognize that food and agriculture is fundamental for the people, especially when we consider the issue of rice in Asia Pacific. Many rice farmers in the region are now hungry or sinking into debt, and therefore their livelihood is threatened. This situation is also promoted by international institution such as the WTO, IMF and the World Bank. On the other hand, these institutions are also promoting export-oriented rice production, and monopoly control by transnational corporations. This has been endangering rice farmer’s life in Asia Pacific.

Peasants march for agrarian reform in Jakarta: "Don't promise it, do it!"
Achmad Ya'kub, Policy Studies and Campaigns - The Indonesian Federation of Peasant Unions (FSPI)
June 29, 2006 - On May 17, the streets of Jakarta filled with thousands of peasants. More than tend thousand men, women and children from the remote villages of Java flocked to the city centre with their banners, songs and the sound of the drums to one of the largest protests for agrarian reform since the end of the “New Regime” in 1998. They were joined by workers, students, youth groups, urban poor, and other civil society representatives.

South Korea: US Military expansion plan threatens the right to food of 200 rice farmers, Daechuri, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do Province
FIAN International
June 29, 2006 - On March 6 and 15, 2006, riot police attempted to forcibly evict residents of Daechuri village, Pyeongtaek. Many residents were severely injured and over 40 protesters were arrested. The farmers of Daechuri and surrounding communities have been protesting for the past 4 years against attempts to expand a United States military base which would imply forcible evictions of the farming communities. The farmers solely depend on rice farming for their subsistence and an adequate compensation is not guaranteed. As such, the right to feed oneself of 200 farmers' families is threatened.

Redistributive land reform in ‘public’ (forest) lands? Lessons from the Philippines and their implications for land reform theory and practice
Saturnino M. Borras, Jr
March 30, 2006 - The conventional view in the land reform literature does not consider distribution of‘public’lands to landless and near-landless peasants as redistributive land reform. Questioning the (formal) private property bias in land reform theory and practice, this paper rethinks some fundamental concepts and re-examines actual distribution in public lands in the Philippines. Itconcludes that redistributive reform can, in fact, occur in this type of land and the political process through which this outcome can be achieved could be highly contentious.

REPORT: Police Open Fire on Peasants in Lombok, Indonesia
Land Research Action Network (LRAN)
September 21, 2005 - On the morning of September 18, 2005, at approximately 9:00AM, Indonesian police forces violently dispersed a peaceful gathering of about 1000 peasants in Tanah Awuk village in central Lombok, Indonesia. The peasants had gathered together to launch a week-long series of activities to commemorate Indonesia’s National Peasants’ Day on September 24th. More than 300 invited guests, including students, members of Serikat Tani NTB (the local peasants’ union) and peasant farmers from 12 other provinces were expected at the meeting. Also invited to this meeting was an international delegation composed of peasant leaders from La Via Campesina, human rights specialists, and researchers from the Land Research Action Network (LRAN), who were in Lombok to attend a National Symposium on Agrarian Reform organized by the Indonesian Federation of Peasant Unions (FSPI).

Land for the People not for the Investor, The Government has to put forward the Public Interest
Federation of Indonesian Peasant Union (FSPI) - Executive Body of Federation (BPF), Federation of Indonesian Peasant Union (FSPI)
August 04, 2005 - The President Regulation No. 36/2005 was issued by the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on 3 May 2005. Although its consideration is based on the Main Law of Agrarian 1960, the President Regulation has substantially and philosophically been contrary to the Main Law of Agrarian 1960. It also neglects the people's rights for the land and even repressively and aggressively is just to fill some investors.

Donate to Via Campesina Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction Fund
January 03, 2005 -
Please support fisherfolk and peasant communities in their own relief and reconstruction from the Tsunami disaster

Via Campesina launches initiative to raise funds for affected communities

Lost in the Queue: Equality, Rights and Livelihoods
Jakir Hossain, Campaign For Good Governance & The Innovators
September 02, 2004 - Development in Bangladesh has been largely directed by multilateral lending institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The goal of these institutions has been to drive Bangladesh towards free market reforms and poverty reduction. However, the lives of the poor and landless have remained largely unchanged. This paper calls for a different emphasis within national development. By bringing a participatory approach to development models and research the author outlines an alternative path towards sustainable development, which directly addresses structural inequalities that impact the acces to land, resources and political power.

Philippine Agrarian Reform Gives Land to the Wealthy
Luz Rimban, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ)
July 13, 2004 - This report focuses on the 220-hectare Hacienda Tinang in Tarlac, once owned by Benigno Aquino Sr. and sold to the wealthy de Leon family of Pampanga. It narrates how the de Leon heirs circumvented land reform by faking a voluntary offer of sale where the land was supposedly sold, in smaller parcels, to “farmer-beneficiaries.” These beneficiaries, however, were actually members of the clan, which includes some of the country’s wealthiest bankers, businesspeople, and socialites. The story is much more than that of the circumvention of the law or the loopholes in the land reform program. It is really a story of power and wealth in the country, and how the families that own land and wield power are able to protect their interests.

Land Reform Ridden with Loopholes
Luz Rimban, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ)
July 13, 2004 - When she outlined a 10-point program of government in her inaugural speech on Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made no mention of land reform or rural poverty. No one has made note of the omission, itself a sign that 16 years after the signing of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, the issue of land redistribution is no longer considered a matter of urgent concern. . . . Learn more about how small farmers have been impacted by land reform in the Philippines

Agrarian Reform: The Promise and The Reality
Marissa de Guzman, Marco Garrido & Mary Ann Manahan
June 23, 2004 - An updated and revised background report on land reform in the Philippines. The authors have provided a comprehensive critical analysis of the history and reality of agrarian reform in the Philippines. This 59 page paper is also featured as a chapter in, Anti-development State: Political Economy of Permanent Crisis by Walden Bello

Farmer is Face of Land Reform's Success at 16
Christine A. Gaylican, Inquirer News Service
June 23, 2004 - After sixteen years the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program ( better known as CARP ) has transformed thousands of tenant-farmers in the Philippines into small farmer-entrepreneurs. This article discusses the experiences of one farmer, Mang Pio, a direct beneficiary of the Asian Development Bank's training for farmers called the Agrarian Reform Communities Project (ARCP) which seeks to provide agrarian reform beneficiaries the right tools to manage their farm lands. . . . .Read More

A Voice Unheard: Frustration takes its toll
Pennapa Hongthong, The Nation
May 17, 2004 - Hai Khanjanta, 76, cannot estimate how many nights she has spent camping in front of Government House in Bangkok over the past 27 years, demanding compensation for the paddy fields she lost when waters from a government-built dyke flooded her family's land. The Thai government seized her land for the public[interest], but won't allow Khanjanta to stay on public space to seek compensation. . . . . Read More

Peoples' Caravan Delegates Arrested in Nepal
Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP)
April 29, 2004 - Around 100 delegates who had attended the Public Launch of the Peoples Caravan for Food Sovereignty gathered in a peaceful demonstration near Ratna Park in downtown Kathmandu. The protestors, both foreign and local, were then pushed unto the back of the trucks and taken to Police Headquarters where many were questioned about the action. They were released later in the evening. Protest actions have become a daily occurrence on the streets of Kathmandu. And just as pro-democracy movements have intensified, so have incidences of police suppression of these actions.

Monitoring Paper: Thailand's Land Titling Program
Rebeca Leonard and Kingkorn Narintarakul Na Ayutthaya, Northern Development Foundation
November 06, 2003 - The World Bank’s Land Titling Programme in Thailand has been one of the largest land titling programmes implemented throughout the world. The Bank has praised itself for what it sees as the success of the programme in several of its own reports. However, the very people who were supposed to have benefited from this World Bank programme have, instead, become much worse off.

New Land Policies of Sri Lanka
Sarath Fernando, Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR)
August 25, 2003 - The Government of Sri Lanka is preparing to introduce a new land policy bill. This bill is based on the agreement in the "Regaining Sri Lanka" proposals, as well as an agreement with the World Bank. Government intends to approve this legislation very soon, however, this new law would be very destructive. The following is a brief analysis.

Press Release: Phillippine Farmers on Hunger Strike
Task Force Mapalad (TFM)
February 10, 2003 - October 23, 2002- Fifteen Task Force Mapalad (TFM) farmers from landholdings formerly owned by heirs of the late Roberto S. Benedicto in Negros, Occidental declare a hunger strike today in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform.