On October 6-7, 1999, the Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC) and the Popular Coalition for the Eradication of Hunger and Poverty co-organized an international conference on WCARRD 20/20: Emerging Trends and Perspectives of Agrarian Reform in Asia in Tagaytay City, Philippines.

Twenty years ago in 1979, the first World Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) was held. Some 145 governments adopted the WCARRD Declaration of Principles and Program of Action, also called the Peasant’s Charter. This was drafted recognizing that agrarian reform was the imperative to solve the hunger and poverty situation in many parts of the developing world.

However, twenty years later, the view that agrarian reform is the primary rural development strategy has shifted. Governments have opted to follow the path of industrialization and globalization toward development and poverty alleviation. Agrarian reform has been neglected by the same governments that committed to uphold its implementation.

The recently-concluded WCARRD 20/20 conference featured a review of the WCARRD for the past 20 years by former FAO official Dr. Hans Melizcek; case presentations on agrarian reform initiatives by NGOs and POs in six Asian countries; a panel presentation on the Brazil experience on Market-Assisted Land Reform (MALR) and the Philippine experience on State-led Agrarian Reform. Representatives from the World Bank, FAO-TSARRD, and  Department of Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Conrado Navarro participated in the conference.

The delegates of the conference reviewed the Programme of Action of the WCARRD. It was generally concluded that the goals and proposed actions in The Peasant’s Charter, is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago.

Highlighted there was the inclusion of the imperatives to empower the rural poor through agrarian reform and by their direct participation in policy formulation and program implementation in various agreements at the international level.

ANGOC, through its official statement at the conference, upheld the WCARRD as a critical program for international agrarian reform that remains relevant today even with the socio-political and economic shifts that hinder its implementation. The ANGOC statement also pointed to other significant issues affecting agrarian reform not covered well by the original WCARRD agreements. Among these are sustainability, increased role of women in decision-making for food production, people’s empowerment, review of trade agreements vis-à-vis food security, etc. Finally, the ANGOC network decried the lack of political will of governments to carry out the agrarian reform and rural development agenda. 

The conference delegation affirmed that it was up to civil society to take the lead in pursuing this agrarian reform agenda for poverty alleviation and food security. 

The proposals the delegates agreed to pursue to continue the advocacy of agrarian reform in Asia will be used to influence various international conferences on rural development of intergovernmental agencies to revive agrarian reform as an effective development framework in the new millennium.

Finally, we would appreciate if you can also include in your campaigns the advocacy points raised in the following two documents drawn from the conference.  We hope you join us in enriching and strengthening the global and Asian advocacy for agrarian reform.