Showing papers by "Saturnino M. Borras published in 2007"

Market-led Agrarian Reform: policies, performance and prospects

Abstract: Market-led agrarian reform ( mlar ) has gained prominence worldwide since the early 1990s as an alternative to the state-led approaches widely implemented over the course of the 20th century. This neoliberal policy framework advocates voluntary transactions between ‘willing sellers’ and ‘willing buyers’ and the removal of various ‘distortions’ from land and agricultural markets. Related policies aim to secure and formalise private property rights. Emerging evidence from across the developing world suggests that such policies are incapable of challenging the political and economic power of large landowners and are unlikely to meet the land needs of the rural poor and landless. In key areas such as land transfer, farmer development and programme financing, mlar is shown to be falling far short of its objectives. Meanwhile, it is being actively challenged by national and international peasant movements that are calling for more direct intervention by the state in order to restructure patterns of lan...

Pro-Poor Land Reform: A Critique

Abstract: Using empirical case materials from the Philippines and referring to rich experiences from different countries historically, this book offers conceptual and practical conclusions that have far-reaching implications for land reform throughout the world. Examining land reform theory and practice, this book argues that conventional practices have excluded a significant portion of land-based production and distribution relationships, while they have inadvertently included land transfers that do not constitute real redistributive reform. By direct implication, this book is a critique of both mainstream market led agrarian reform and conventional state-led land reform. It offers an alternative perspective on how to move forward in theory and practice and opens new paths in land policy research.

Land, Poverty and Livelihoods in an Era of Globalization: Perspectives from Developing and Transition Countries

Abstract: 1. Agrarian Reform and Rural Development: Historical Overview and Current Issues Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Cristobal Kay and A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi 2. Bolivia's Unfinished Agrarian Reform: Rural Poverty and Development Policies Cristobal Kay and Miguel Urioste 3. Agrarian Reform and Poverty Reduction: Lessons from Brazil Carmen Diana Deere and Leonilde Servolo de Medeiros 4. Land, Poverty and State-Society Interaction in the Philippines Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Danilo Carranza and Ricardo Reyes 5. Land Markets and Rural Livelihoods in Vietnam A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi 6. Land Reform, Rural Poverty and Inequality in Armenia: A Pro-Poor Approach to Land Policies Max Spoor 7. The Land System, Agriculture and Poverty in Uzbekistan Azizur Rahman Khan 8. Mubarak's Legacy for Egypt's Rural Poor: Returning Land to the Landlords Ray Bush 9. Land Reform in Namibia: Issues of Equity and Poverty Jan Kees van Donge with George Eiseb and Alfons Mosimane 10. Untying the Gordian Knot: The Question of Land Reform in Ethiopia Gebru Mersha and Mwangi wa Githinji 11. Land Policy, Poverty Reduction and Public Action in Zimbabwe Sam Moyo 12. Neo-liberal Globalization, Land and Poverty: Implications for Public Action A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Cristobal Kay and Terry McKinley

`Free market¿, export-led development strategy and its impact on rural livelihoods, poverty and inequality: The Philippine experience seen from a Southeast Asian perspective

Abstract: The ‘free market’, export-led development strategy has not delivered its promise of development in agriculture, as far as the Philippines is concerned. The World Bank-and IMF-instigated privatization and deregulation policies with direct consequence to rural livelihoods carried out much earlier and far wider in the Philippines than in some other Southeast Asian countries have coincided, overlapped and interlinked with the GATT/WTO trade/exchange rules. These two broad sets of policy related to agricultural production and exchange, combined, have largely reinforced, not undermined or eroded, pre-existing agrarian structures dominated by domestic and transnational elites. The overall outcome is the opposite of neoliberal reformers' predictions: the transformation of the Philippines from a net agricultural exporting to a net agricultural importing country. This development strategy has failed to address the persistence of poverty and growing inequality in this country. If a poverty-eradicating strat...

Anti-poverty or Anti-poor? The World Bank's market-led agrarian reform experiment in the Philippines

Abstract: After seven years of implementation, the results are in: the World Bank's experiment in market-led agrarian reform in the Philippines has resulted in anti-poor outcomes. The evidence shows that wealth and power transfers in the project sites have followed four broad patterns—all flowing in one basic direction: intra-elite/elite-to-elite, state-to-elite, foreign donor-to-elite and poor-to-elite. Alongside its clear failure in this specific sense, the experiment has been a boon for the cause of anti-reform, strengthening the manoeuvres of anti-reform forces, while undermining the redistributive potentials not only of the present, but also of any future state land reform law in the country.

Struggles Over Land Resources in the Philippines

Abstract: In April 2006, Enrico “Ka Eric” Cabanit was shot dead by masked assassins in Davao He was the General Secretary of UNORKA (National Coordination of Autonomous Local Rural People's Organizations),

Land Rights, Conflict, and Violence Amid Neo-Liberal Globalization

Abstract: Conflict and violence have characterized most societies where tensions over land and, hence, over the control, use, and benefits of natural resources (including land, water, forests, mineral resour...

'Free market', export-led development

Abstract: The 'free market', export-led development strategy has not delivered its promise of development in agriculture, as far as the Philippines is concerned. The World Bank- and IMF-instigated privatization and deregulation policies with direct consequence to rural livelihoods carried out much earlier and far wider in the Philippines than in some other Southeast Asian countries have coincided, overlapped and interlinked with the GATT/WTO trade/exchange rules. These two broad sets of policy related to agricultural production and exchange, combined, have largely reinforced, not undermined or eroded, pre-existing agrarian structures dominated by domestic and transnational elites. The overall outcome is the opposite of neoliberal reformers' predic tions: the transformation of the Philippines from a net agricultural exporting to a net agricultural importing country. This development strategy has failed to address the persistence of poverty and growing inequality in this country. If a poverty-eradicating strategic national development is to be achieved in the Philippines and in some of the latter ' s regional neighbors, a radical recast ing of the pre-existing agrarian structures partly through explicitly pro-poor land policies will be necessary and urgent.