From the Farmland to the Table Exploring the Links Between Tenure and Food Security Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) Founded in 1979, the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) is a regional association of national and regional networks of non-government organizations (NGOs) in Asia actively engaged in promoting food security, agrarian reform, sustainable agriculture, participatory governance, and rural development. ANGOC member networks and partners work in 14 Asian countries with an effective reach of some 3,000 NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs). ANGOC actively engages in joint field programs and policy debates with national governments, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and international financial institutions (IFIs). The complexity of Asian realities and diversity of NGOs highlight the need for a development leadership to service the poor of Asia—providing a forum for articulation of their needs and aspirations as well as expression of Asian values and perspectives. ANGOC 33 Mapangsangguni Street Sikatuna Village, Diliman 1101 Quezon City, Philippines P.O. Box 3107, QCCPO 1101, Quezon City, Philippines Tel: +63-2 3510581 Fax: +63-2 3510011 Email: [email protected] URL: www.angoc.org The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) is an alliance of global regional and national partners contributing to poverty alleviation through land reform, improved land management and security of tenure particularly through the development and dissemination of pro-poor and gender-sensitive land tools. Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch, UN-Habitat P.O. Box 30030-00100, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: +254 207624241 Email: [email protected] URL: www.gltn.net From the Farmland to the Table: Exploring the Links between Tenure and Food Security From the Farmland to the Table Exploring the Links between Tenure and Food Security Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) From the Farmland to the Table Exploring the Links between Tenure and Food Security Published by: Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) ANGOC 33 Mapangsangguni Street Sikatuna Village, Diliman 1101 Quezon City, Philippines Copyright 2017 Quezon City, Philippines All rights reserved This publication may be freely cited, quoted, reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) provided proper citation of the publishers is made. ISBN: 978-971-8632-47-5 EDITORIAL TEAM Editors Fr. Francis B. Lucas Antonio B. Quizon Nathaniel Don E. Marquez Marianne Jane Naungayan Denise Hyacinth Joy Musni Timothy Salomon Romulo Luib Writers Chy Bobta (Cambodia) Jagat Basnet (Nepal) Prof. Laya Uprety (Nepal) Roel R. Ravanera (Philippines) Anthony Marzan (Philippines) Joy Demaluan (Philippines) Logistics Joseph Onesa Lennie Rose Cahusay Layout & Design Gerard Jerome C. Dumlao Photos STAR Kampuchea CSRC XSF Kaisahan, Inc. CARRD, Inc. ANGOC Citation: Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC). (2017). From the Farmland to the Table: Exploring the Links Between Tenure and Food Security. Quezon City: ANGOC and GLTN. From the Farmland to the Table: Exploring the Links between Tenure and Food Security Table of Contents Foreword 7 The Continuum of Land Rights and Links to 9 Food Security: An Overview of Community Studies from Cambodia, Nepal and Philippines Land Tenure and Food Security: 43 A Case Study on Two Forest Communities in Pursat Province, Cambodia Tenure and Food Security of Smallholder Farmers in 63 Selected Communities in Nepal Connecting Land Rights to Food Security: Case Study 89 of Farming Communities in Selected Provinces in the Philippines Focus Group Discussion (FGD): Guide Questions 119 Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) From the Farmland to the Table: Exploring the Links between Tenure and Food Security Foreword n September 2016, ANGOC as member of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) Rural CSO Cluster, started the implementation of a project “Piloting Iand consolidation of the Food Security Framework.” The main activity of the project is to conduct an exploratory study on establishing the link of land tenure to food security. Thus, the study is part of ANGOC’s contribution to the discourse on access to land as a key intervention in addressing food insecurity in rural Asia. This initiative builds on ANGOC’s earlier undertaking, the 200-Village Project, that linked household food security to several factors, including land tenure. It also uses the continuum of land rights, a tool developed by GLTN to describe an existing tenure situation and for predicting how a range of tenure types may transform over time given different scenarios and intervention strategies. The overall goal of this three-country study is to pilot a participatory evidence- based documentation on access to land as a key intervention in addressing food insecurity in rural areas. In particular, the study shall: n outline a land rights continuum in Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines; and, n describe the links between land rights and food security, through community-level studies in the three countries. This publication contains a regional overview of the community studies, the edited version of the community study conducted in Cambodia, the abridged versions of the community studies conducted in Nepal and Philippines, and the guide questions used in the focus group discussions. ANGOC acknowledges the work of the lead writers and the research team members in the three countries, the partner organizations – STAR Kampuchea, Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) 7 CSRC, XSF, CARRD, Kaisahan and PAFID, and the 44 local communities involved in the focus group discussions. Special thanks to Antonio Quizon for steering the process and for preparing the regional overview. We also thank the participants of the Regional Forum on Continuum of Land Rights and Food Security (16 October 2017; Quezon City, Philippines) for sharing their insights and feedback. Finally, our appreciation to the Global Land Tool Network for supporting this initiative. Rohini Reddy Chet Charya Nathaniel Don E. Marquez Chairperson Vice Chairperson Executive Director 8 From the Farmland to the Table: Exploring the Links between Tenure and Food Security The Continuum of Land Rights and Links to Food Security: An Overview of Community Studies from Cambodia, Nepal and Philippines ANTONIO B. QUIZON ANGOC mall farmers and producers have served as the backbone of Asian agriculture and food security. Asia is home to 75 percent of the world’s Sfarming households, 80 percent of whom are small-scale farmers and producers. However, majority of them are resource poor, and lacking tenure security and access to productive assets, especially land and water. Moreover, agricultural households face limited access to basic services, low productivity, and underemployment. Small rural producers also often lack access to financial services, education opportunities, advisory services, infrastructure, and well- functioning markets. The great irony is that poverty and hunger remain largely rural and agricultural, and that small food producers continue to count among the most vulnerable to hunger. In the Philippines, for instance, statistics show that fisherfolk and farmers are the two poorest sectors. The poverty incidence is 40 percent among farmer households and 50 percent among fisherfolk households – compared to the national poverty incidence of 21 percent in 2009. This three-country study was undertaken by the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) in order to explore the This is based on a review and analysis of three in-country studies - “Land Tenure and Food Security: Case Study of Two Forest Communities in Pursat Province, Cambodia,” “Study on Continuum of Land and Property Rights in Nepal,” and “Connecting Land Rights to Food Security: The Philippines Case.” The edited version of the Cambodia case study, and the abridged versions of the Nepal and the Philippine case studies are included in this publication. Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC) 9 linkages between land tenure and food security at community level, with the perspective of developing tools and strategies towards monitoring and addressing rural hunger and poverty. ANGOC is an Asian regional network of civil society organizations (CSOs) that has been advocating for land rights since its founding in 1979. This study builds upon an earlier 200-Village Project initiative that the ANGOC network undertook in 2000, focused on food security of rural households, with land tenure security as a major component of the program. The current research has been undertaken jointly with ANGOC partners: STAR Kampuchea in Cambodia; the Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC) in Nepal; and the Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CARRD), Solidarity towards Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (Kaisahan, Inc.), Xavier Science Foundation (XSF) and Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID) in the Philippines. This research initiative is supported by the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), an alliance of international partners focused on poverty alleviation through land reform, improved land management and security of tenure. This study also builds on the “Continuum of Land Rights” – a tool developed by GLTN