Despite the fact that successive administrations since the country became independent in 1946 have introduced agrarian reform programmes, landlessness remains a major problem with over 50 % of farmers not owning the land they till. The concentration of land ownership in the hands of a few landlord families and private corporations has increased, while the lack of government support for agriculture has resulted in extreme poverty amongst farmers, in fact 71 % of poor Filipino families live in the rural areas.
ASTM’s partner organization PDG has been fighting against the exploitation of the small and landless peasant farmers in the area around Kabankalan on the island Negros since 1987, helping them to improve their farming techniques and to organize into strong communities to demand their rights. The executive-director of PDG, Attorney Ben Ramos, will be visiting us in November and at our lunch-débat on 4 November he will explain about the experiences of small peasant farmers in Negros in their struggle for genuine agrarian reform.
La presentation sera en anglais. Le public a la possibilité de poser des questions en luxembourgeois et en français.
Bring and eat your own packed lunch !
