The Department of Agriculture (DA) and AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) will develop 20,000 hectares of land in Mindanao owned by indigenous peoples (IP) into corn farms for the commercialization of ANI’s rice-corn blend project.

In a recent news briefing, the DA said it will undertake the development of IP lands in partnership with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for ANI’s bigas-mais (rice-corn), or BigMa project.

The DA added that it will also shoulder the initial corn seed requirements to cover the target area.

A Twenty-hectare plot of land in Erap has been allocated by the Division of Agriculture and Livestock to address Covid-19 food security through partnerships with other stakeholders.

The project is in response to a call by the provincial emergency centre supported by the Australian High Commission Consulate, Lae Chamber of Commerce and Lae City Authority to provide planting materials to farmers in the province. 

GLTN’s Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) has acquired a surprising application in the identification of vulnerable households. A case in point is in Nepal where the GLTN in collaboration with UN-Habitat Nepal Country Office, and its local partner Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC) have been implementing the “Support to Land Reform Initiatives in Nepal” project.

JAKARTA — Two people have died in a series of land disputes between major companies and rural communities in Indonesia.

Activists have denounced the escalation in the conflicts, saying businesses shouldn’t be taking advantage of the country’s focus on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic to further their own — often illegal — interests.

The government authorities seem content that people are obeying the lockdown regulations which keep on changing at the local level. The authorities believe that there is a positive correlation between the lockdown on the streets and public safety from the spread of the virus: the stricter the lockdown, the safer the population.

Moments after President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest address to the nation on the cumulative lockdown order of Lagos and Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital Territory,  the media went into a frenzy, with discussions centered on how farmers and agricultural extension professionals can jointly and collaboratively ensure that the nation’s food supply chain is not altered as the nation continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Fear of the virus and job loss in cities are pushing many back to the countryside, reversing a decades-long trend of urban migration and raising alarm about a public health crisis in rural areas.

LAND VALUES in Metro Manila are seen to drop 5-15% by the fourth quarter as rents and selling prices decline due to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Property consultancy firm Colliers International Philippines said in an online briefing on Wednesday that central business districts will take a hit from the slump in real estate demand.

April 30, 2020 (Ezega.com) -- The Addis Ababa City Government has demolished dozens of homes belonging to day laborers over the past three weeks, rendering at least 1,000 people homeless amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Most of those whose homes have been destroyed recently lost their jobs due to the ongoing COVID-19 shutdowns told Amnesty International that they are now also having sleepless nights as authorities repeatedly confiscate tarpaulin or plastic sheeting they are using to shelter against heavy rains.

The world will never be the same after COVID-19. Social behaviors have permanently changed as have consumer patterns. Trends in international trade have shifted, as have investment priorities. After two months in lockdown, nations must restart their economies in an environment that has changed drastically.

The silver lining is that it revealed the weaknesses in our institutions and our economies. As we rebuild, we must do so with an intent to reinvent, especially for us in the Philippines. We must work to make the nation stronger, more resilient and self-sufficient.

Open Letter to Socfin, 29th April 2020: 

We demand justice and safety for workers on Socfin’s rubber/oil palm plantations  during the Covid-19 pandemic

Dear board members and shareholders,
 

We, the undersigned, are writing you in regards to the conditions of workers on the Socfin plantations as well as the conditions of neighboring communities, in particular during the current Covid-19 pandemic. 
 

Opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan today suggested that the government fast-track the release of financial aid to quarantine-affected farmers by decentralizing disbursement from Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).

The fifth report of Malacanang to Congress submitted last April 27 showed that the financial subsidy to rice farmers (FSRF) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) reached only 53,881 (or 9.11 percent) out of 591,246 targeted farmers, and P645 million of FSRF’s P3 billion has been utilized.