[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”40px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_heading title=”Agrarian Reform as an Unfinished Conversation: Reflections from Farmers\u2019 Associations in Cebu and Bohol” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”|700|on||||||” title_text_color=”gcid-body-color” title_font_size=”41px” custom_margin=”|-828px|25px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-body-color%22:%91%22title_text_color%22%93}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_heading][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Soler-Agrarian-Reform.png” title_text=”Soler-Agrarian Reform” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”15px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_padding=”118px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Lead Researcher(s): <\/strong>Alyssa Soler Introduction:<\/strong> Land reform remains a matter of national significance in the Philippines, given that nearly half of the country\u2019s population lives in rural areas. While the term \u2018land reform\u201d is often associated with land redistribution, many of its programs primarily focus on landholding. This is because landownership underpins access to land, as well as the rights and responsibilities associated with its use and management (Azadi 2020; Holden & Otsuka 2014). In reality, however, many of the rural poor still lack real control over or ownership of land despite the implementation of several land reform programs in the past. In many cases, land reform has fallen short of its intended purpose. Less land was distributed than promised, and farmland was mostly converted into non-agricultural uses.<\/span><\/p>\n Almost all land reform initiatives in the Philippines have been state-sponsored, thus land distribution issues are often linked to the limitations of governmentdesigned programs. According to Borras and Franco (2008), one key issue with such programs is their top-down approach. This has mainly taken the form of limited land redistribution, tenancy reforms, and resettlement, accompanied by the efforts to manage, co-opt, disempower, or suppress peasant1 The pro-market critique also argues that state-led land reform is invariably unsuccessful because it relies on coercive land acquisition methods, such as expropriation and land-size ceilings. Deininger and Binswanger (1999) note that This paper argues that agrarian reform in the Philippines remains incomplete because state-led and top-down approaches fail to address the lived realities, political vulnerabilities, and institutional marginalization experienced by [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_text=”Downloadable PDF” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” button_url=”https:\/\/cids.up.edu.ph\/discussion_paper\/agrarian-reform-unfinished-conversation-reflections-farmers-associations-cebu-bohol\/” url_new_window=”on” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#8A1538″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lead Researcher(s): Alyssa SolerStatus: Published Introduction: Land reform remains a matter of national significance in the Philippines, given that nearly half of the country\u2019s population lives in rural areas. While the term \u2018land reform\u201d is often associated with land redistribution, many of its programs primarily focus on landholding. This is because landownership underpins access to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[42],"project_tag":[],"class_list":["post-3316","project","type-project","status-publish","hentry","project_category-discussion-papers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/3316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/3316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3320,"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/3316\/revisions\/3320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=3316"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvsc.upcebu.edu.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=3316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Status:<\/strong> Published<\/p>\n
demands. These outcomes are shaped by powerful social groups and classes, whose influence extends both within and beyond state institutions. Another problem, raised by Sikor and M\u00fcller (2009), is that these initiatives often fail
to gain community support because bureaucratic systems are too rigid to accommodate diverse meanings of land, different forms of land ownership, and varying political and economic contexts.<\/p>\n
such ceiling laws are costly to implement, encourage landowners to avoid them, and lead to problems such as corruption, unprotected land rights, and excessive bureaucracy. According to Borras (2007), these reforms were implemented within inward-oriented development strategies that tended to benefit politically powerful landowners while placing heavier burdens on small farmers. The promarket critique further argues that state-led land reform fails not only because of its redistributive mechanisms but also because it is embedded in a policy environment that limits small farmers’ capacity to develop and sustain their livelihoods (Borras 2007; Binswanger and Deininger 1997).<\/p>\n
agrarian reform beneficiaries. Drawing from farmers\u2019 organizations in Cebu and Bohol, the paper advances the need for a more community-centered approach to land reform grounded in local participation, tenure security, and rural empowerment. In this perspective, land reform is understood as something that is continuously shaped and negotiated at the community level, where farmers, communities, and their organizations serve as active actors in
defining how land is accessed, used, and protected. <\/span><\/p>\n