Mary Ann Manahan

(Program Officer with Focus on the Global South-Philippines Program)

Development and Peace : Even before super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan struck central Philippines, conditions of social-economic inequality and situations of poverty had been afflicting rural communities not only in the Visayas but in other areas of the country. Focus on the Global South in particular has been addressing poverty and inequality issues through its advocacy/research and campaigns on access to land/land resources as well as on agrarian reform and defense of the rights of farmers, because rural poverty is seen to be directly linked to lack of entitlements and access to land as well as other resources. Government data in fact have shown that provinces with high incidences and rates of poverty were those where big private landholdings have not undergone agrarian reform and where big landowners’ resistance have been strongest, and these include provinces several provinces in central Philippines. Land tenure and governance are closely linked to access to land and livelihood of rural populations.