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Task Force Mapalad PDF Print E-mail
THE TASK FORCE MAPALAD

TFM is a national federation of farmers, farm workers and individuals working for agrarian reform and rural development.  

TFM's mission is to improve the quality of life of farmers and farm workers by supporting their initiatives for access to land resources and productivity development. Cultivating their own lands in a sustainable way enables farmers to answer their families' food, education, health and shelter needs. Farmers are also able to
contribute to development efforts as they increase their income.  

TFM members belong to the "poorest of the poor" agricultural workers in private agricultural lands still owned and controlled by elite families. They do not have access to land and basic social services and work under exploitative conditions in the farms. Government has failed to effectively implement the agrarian reform program in these lands as the means to deliver social justice and equality to farmers. 

From 500 farm workers in 16 hacienda (sugar estates) in Negros Occidental in September 2001, TFM now has 25,000 members in nine (9) provinces - Cagayan Valley , Nueva Ecija, Eastern Batangas , and Oriental Mindoro in Luzon ; Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Iloilo in the Visayas; and Bukidnon and Davao Oriental in Mindanaw.  

TFM covers about 40 percent of Negros Occidental, considered as the final frontier in agrarian reform due to strong landlord opposition. TFM members are in 287 hacienda found in 7 municipalities and 6 cities with about 40,000 hectares and 8,000 farmers. Expansion is going on in another 6,444 hectares with 1,400 farmers.  

TFM is officially registered with the Philippines ' Securities and Exchange Commission as an independent non-government organization, with Company Registry Number A200114136

FIRE FROM BELOW

TFM through the years has taken on the phrase "fire from below" - from the landless farmers and farm workers -- as its organizational mantra. Concrete gains are achieved when the people themselves lead in processes and activities for agrarian reform and agricultural productivity such as:  

. Community organizing
. Land occupation
. Community mobilizations and campouts
. Dialogues
. Networking with influentials, tri-media, civil society, Church and Government
. Claim making for effective delivery of services and for policy reforms
. Organizational building and strengthening
 
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TFM's Mission

“To improve the quality of life of farmers and farm workers by supporting their initiatives for access to land resources and productivity development.”