The experience of precarity is common in the agrarian context in the Global South. This paper describes the conditions of upland corn farmers in Carmen, Cebu in the northeastern part of the province, highlighting the problems and concerns that were expressed by farmers surrounding their production of corn as a subsistence staple. Corn is grown for food security in small parcels of land irrespective of slope, type of soil, land classification, and lack of ownership. Their experiences of precarity stem from land characteristics, unpredictable climatic conditions, and minimal agricultural support services, exacerbated by changing and insecure land tenure arrangements. Most of the upland areas are officially classified as timberland and thus cannot be titled. Nevertheless, holding a tax declaration is deemed equivalent to ‘ownership’ or rights to the land that they till. Recently, these uplands have been marked out for reforestation efforts by the government in partnership with the private sector to whom farmers have ‘sold’ such rights. With the trees growing alongside their crops, eventually, the farmers are forced to discontinue corn farming. As areas that are no longer planted to corn are increasing, the food supply of farmer-households is affected. Further shifts in land use and livelihood, result to the situation of precarity among the farmers in the uplands. The paper is based on the farmers’ own narratives during focus group discussions, supplemented with secondary data from government agriculture offices, as well as primary survey data and key informant interviews.
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