Access to Land, Agrarian Reform and Climate Change Adaptation for Food Security

Dhaka CSO Statement to the 2nd CIRDAP Ministerial Meeting

We are 16 Social Movements and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who are members and partners of the Land
Watch Asia Campaign from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines. We
work with poor and marginalized farmers, tenants, laborers, indigenous peoples, women, dalits and minority
castes, pastoralists, herders, fisherfolk to increase their access to land and empower them to realize their own
development.

We have gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh in time for the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Center on Integrated Rural
Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) this January 23-24, 2010. We believe it is important for CIRDAP
and its member governments to dialogue with Civil Society on critical issues affecting the access and control to
land of these poor sectors we share a concern for.

The 1979 World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD), which spawned the
formation of CIRDAP and the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) in the
region, forged a Principle and Program of Action also known as the Peasant Charter. It strongly espoused that
sustained improvement of rural areas requires fuller and more equitable access to land, water and other natural
resources (and) widespread sharing of economic and political power. While governments focused attention to
productivity and economic growth, limited attention was given to promote access, equity and participation over 30
years. We in the Land Watch Asia Campaign believe that agrarian reform is deemed to be the foundation of rural
development and social, economic and political stability.

However, we express our deep disappointment that over the past 30 years, little has been achieved in terms of
WCARRD’s programme of action, especially on agrarian reform. The Asian agrarian situation remains
predominantly rural, with agriculture continuing to provide the main source of employment. Poverty and food
insecurity, especially in the rural areas is widespread, with increasing landlessness among the rural poor,
depriving them of their livelihood base.

On Equity. Though policies have been in place for land reform in Asia, the need for more responsive laws for
equitable land distribution and their effective implementation remains. In most Asian countries land ownership
patterns are still skewed with high levels of inequality found in the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and Pakistan.
In Nepal, more than two-thirds of peasants own less than a hectare of land, while a little less than half of the
population owns less than 0.2 hectares in India. Bangladesh small farming households own an average of 0.3
hectare of land.

We believe that the need for land and agrarian reforms remain as relevant as ever especially in the significant
shifts in the socio-political and economic environment that have negatively affected its context. We emphasize
that land should be seen as more than an economic asset or commodity. Access to land not only brings a source
of survival but also increases one’s sense of human dignity and security, and the opportunity to break out of
poverty. More equitable access to and sustainable management of land reduces resource conflicts and rural
outmigration, and improves overall peace for greater economic and political stability.

On Productivity. While it is commendable for CIRDAP to pursue sustainable rural livelihoods, some of its
member-governments are already compromising their country’s food sovereignty. All over our countries, lands are
leased to commercial interests, foreign or local, that plant agrofuels or cash crops often for export and not local
consumption. Food sovereignty in rural Asia will only be achieved with the poor having more equitable access to
land, adequate support services, control and management of resources and community empowerment. Studies
show that smallholder farms have greater yield per hectare than large farms due to greater labor intensity, more
efficient use of land and inputs, and greater incentive for enhancing farm productivity as well as practicing
conservation and sustainable management. We believe that land reforms must go hand in hand with the provision
of support services, such as sustainable agriculture, that can allow the poor to maximize their production and
incomes.

On Participation and Governance. Governmental agencies/instrumentalities involved in Land and Agrarian

Reform invariably gain tremendous power as gate keepers of land access. As such, local communities tend to be
treated as mere recipients and beneficiaries. Moreso, rural women’s key role in household food security is not
reflected in some countries land policies and programs. Community participation in policy determination is limited
and at times neglected. “Accountability” to the affected sector is no longer respected.

A collective effort to achieve access to land is necessary from various stakeholders. A critically engaged civil
society, pro-people State and supportive development partners are necessary ingredients for an effective
implementation of a pro-poor agrarian reform. The rights to land of women, indigenous peoples, dalits, land
workers and other marginalized sectors should be fully recognized and integrated into all aspects of securing land
rights. “Accountability” must also be internalized as well as institutionalized in legal policy guidelines in the
implementation of any Land Reform Program. Furthermore, participation and local governance must be
incorporated into the programs for the poor, with a clear recognition that unless the power of vested interests is
also addressed, gains from agrarian reform and rural development will be meaningless. This shall ensure that
Land Reform shall continue to be “For the People and By the People”.

New Challenges. At the same time, the ways in which land is accessed, used and owned are rapidly changing
around the globe, creating new challenges to reducing hunger and poverty. Land is becoming an increasingly
globalized commodity, fuelled by rising demand for food and agrofuels, for minerals, for tourism, and for
ecosystem services including carbon sequestration. Poor land users are facing increased competition for land with
other users, national elites and global investors. There is an urgent need to ensure transparency and disclosure in
large-scale land transactions by governments and corporations. There should be full consultation of all
stakeholders, particularly local land users, in such transactions.

The economic development agendas set by national governments favor the grant of land concessions, the
expansion of plantations, joint venture agreements, mining operations, and the establishment of special economic
zones, all of which require land that should be distributed to the landless poor. Land and forests are valued for
bringing in profit rather than to ensure a country’s food security, reflecting the bias of national land policies
towards promoting agribusiness or extractive industries and urbanization.

Climate change has brought instability and risk to the livelihoods of people depending on land and other natural
resources. Yet, the link between this environmental phenomenon and land is not recognized as an issue by
governments and even at Copenhagen it was only subsumed under the discussions on food security. The effects
of climate change on the amount of land that can be accessed and what kind of land is available for food
production are important information for government leaders to know for precise planning. It is important that
equity, land allocation and rehabilitation are considered as key strategies for sustainable climate change
adaptation and mitigation.

Conflicts arising from competing land claims results from overlaps between and among any number of laws and
polices; the lack of delineation of authority among government agencies that regulate land and resource use; and
laws or policies that favor certain sectors over others.
What CIRDAP can do
After 30 years, this occasion presents an opportunity for CIRDAP to renew its commitments to WCARRD and to
be relevant and effective in today’s realities. CIRDAP should urge its member-governments to carry forward a pro-
poor and sustainable growth model founded on the principles of equity, productivity and participation. Thus, we
urge CIRDAP to:
• Pursue pro-poor legislation and implementation of agrarian and tenurial reform laws to ensure access and
control of resources as well as promote and protect ownership and utilization rights of resource poor,
marginalized farmers, tenants, laborers, indigenous peoples, women, dalits and minority castes, pastoralists
and herders, fisherfolk, and internally-displaced persons;
• Create spaces for dialogue and sharing of experiences between CSOs and governments on land and
agrarian reforms as a number of initiatives on grassroots experiences in land and agrarian reform need to be
documented and shared at the international, regional, national and local levels;
• Call on governments to unite and assess the root causes of climate change and address its impact on access
to land and other natural resources through more discussions with CSOs and communities. It is highly
recommended that CIRDAP’s member governments join efforts to bring global polluters to comply with
mitigation and adaptation measures within the framework of international obligations/instruments, justice and
human rights;
• Ensure that the traditional land rights of indigenous peoples, dalits and other marginalized groups are
recognized and respected in government programs and policies; and
• Do joint monitoring by CSOs and CIRDAP on landlessness, land conflicts, land investments and land use.

Civil society initiatives towards ensuring fuller and more equitable access to land, water and other natural
resources are found at local or national level throughout the countries of the Asian region. Over the last three
decades, the network members and partners of the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural
Development (ANGOC) has actively challenged governments and intergovernmental organizations to implement
agrarian reform and related programs amidst the race of Asian countries towards globalization, trade liberalization
and the promotion of export crops. We have been involved in policy dialogues and implementation of field-based
projects in pursuit of agrarian reform and rural development towards ensuring food security.

The members and partners of Land Watch Asia will continue our cooperation to CIRDAP and expect that it acts
on our recommendations. In this regard, we have thus assigned the Association for Land Reform and
Development (ALRD) as our liaison with CIRDAP in pursuit of these recommendations.

Signed this 24th day of January, 2010:

Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC), International Land Coalition
(ILC), Association of Land Reform and Development (ALRD), Society for Environment and Development
(SEHD), Association for Realization of Basic Needs (ARBAN), Community Development Association
(CDA), INCIDIN Bangladesh, Star Kampuchea, Association of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development
(AVARD), Ekta Parishad, Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), Community Self-Reliance Center
(CSRC), Society for Conservation and Protection of the Environment (SCOPE), Center for Agrarian
Reform and Rural Development (CARRD), Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID)