AFFM conducted a workshop on the Farmland Law reform with the objective of drafting amendments to be submitted to the government of Myanmar following the announcement on the drafting of the country’s Farmland Law on 15 June 2017.
The government plan offered an opportunity to civil society organizations, activists, community members, and farmers’ organizations, including the Agriculture and Farmer Federation of Myanmar (AFFM), to raise their voice and to contribute to a draft law discussion in order to build a more equitable and inclusive policy environment. In fact, thanks to the Government proposal, all stakeholders, especially farmers and their organizations, were able to provide a feedback on the existing VFV and to submit recommendations for revision. In particular, AFFM leaders took advantage of this opportunity to work together because they recognize that the existing law does not properly protect the rights of farmers and other agriculture workers and discussed the best means to amend the law.
Through the MTCP2 Programme, AFFM organized a three-day workshop on the Farmland Law, which was attended by 68 participants from 35 townships, and 11 regions and states. Key important topics were discussed during the workshop including: international land disputes, the Farmland Law and administration mechanisms, land rights, land policy in Myanmar, country cases for land dispute settlement mechanisms, and land rights for indigenous people and women.
After the workshop, a policy paper on the 18 articles was produced which contains ten recommendations, with special consideration in relation to issues such as: small hold farmers, indigenous persons, and gender perspectives.
The AFFM leaders and staff requested to the Parliament to organize a consultative meeting with AFFM representatives in order to enable them to illustrate the amendment proposals and the background reasons and considerations that lead to the proposals. The Parliament members agreed to hold a meeting where AFFM submitted its recommendation policy paper and explain the articles that they want to be amended. The Parliament representatives were very pleased to receive such a policy paper. The policy paper was published into a book and distributed to the members of AFFM.
About AFOSP-MTCP2
AFOSP-MTCP2 is a capacity building program funded by the European Union (EU) with co-financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The program is being implemented in seven ASEAN countries through the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC). AFOSP-MTCP2 supports the strengthening of national farmers’ organizations (FOs) and their national platform towards improving their institutional capacity to deliver economic services to their members as well as to effectively engage them in policy processes. At the ASEAN level, the consortium AFA – LVC works in partnership with the ASEAN Foundation in expanding the spaces for the engagement of FOs in ASEAN processes.
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