World Bank says RP farm policy deepens poverty 08/21/2010

World Bank says RP farm policy deepens poverty

08/21/2010 Misguided farming policies, including land reform, are keeping millions in the Philippines poor, according to a report released by the World Bank this week. The report said only the manufacturing and service sectors, which require huge capital and skilled workers, had grown significantly over the last decade while agriculture, which employs most of the non-skilled, faltered. “These productivity trends reflect a growing scarcity of land and a progressive reduction in the amount of land per worker, aggravated by agrarian reform policies,” the World Bank said. The Philippines passed a land reform law in 1987 to break up large agricultural estates owned mostly by the ruling elite and give land to millions of farmhands. Last year, Congress extended the program by five years amid widespread landlord opposition, which has kept a number of big corporate farms intact, including one controlled by the family of President Aquino. The World Bank urged the government, among others, to set up a commission to review its current agrarian reform policy so farm land is not tied up and can be used more freely as capital. The government says one in three persons in the country of 95 million are poor, with most living in rural areas. The farm sector employed 32.5 million people in April, the latest official data available..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100821hed4.html

HEADLINES No gag order on alter egos—Noy Poll body seeks DoJ findings on Susano’s CF cards, ‘Hello Nico’ Navy whistle-blower placed on ‘floating status’ World Bank says RP farm policy deepens poverty Dead ensign’s kin seek DoJ’s reopening of case Cayetanos split over divorce scheme