Publication
Agrarian transition and smallholder success through local networks: A case study from Mindanao
| dc.contributor.author | Magne Knudsen | |
| dc.contributor.editor | Professor Lian Kwen Fee | |
| dc.contributor.editor | Dr. F. Merlin Franco | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-11-10T11:42:16Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-11-10T11:42:16Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018 | |
| dc.description.abstract | On the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, scholars have documented a precarious land tenure, livelihood and security situation for many smallholders. Agrarian political economy studies provide insightful analysis of the underlying causes of much poverty and violence on the island. Less attention has been given to cases of smallholder success. This article proposes that conditions for smallholder farming, even among ethnic minority groups, are more varied across the island than the literature suggests. In upland villages of north-central Mindanao, there are signs of dynamic smallholder economies. The main case study is from a thriving mixed swidden and fixed field Maranao-Muslim farming village. Almost all the households in the village had successfully claimed land as their own and diversified and improved their livelihoods in recent times. To explain this positive outcome of agrarian transition, the article builds on a relational approach developed to assess the bargaining power of smallholders in land deals. To elaborate on the kinds of relationships smallholders use to access land and improve livelihoods, the article draws on anthropological literature on kinship, land tenure and place. A stronger cross fertilization of key insights in agrarian political economy and anthropological literature on kinship helps develop the debate on agrarian transition in the southern Philippines. | |
| dc.format.extent | 39 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.ubd.edu.bn/handle/123456789/3638 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam | |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | 43 | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Smallholders—Philippines—Mindanao | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Agriculture, Cooperative—Philippines—Mindanao | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Land tenure—Philippines—Mindanao | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Agrarian transition—Philippines—Case studies | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Kinship—Economic aspects—Philippines—Mindanao | |
| dc.title | Agrarian transition and smallholder success through local networks: A case study from Mindanao | |
| dc.type | Working Paper | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication |
