The majority of the Filipinos who live in the countryside are poor. Poverty and oppression brought about by inequality in land tenure relationships and lack of state support for agriculture has led to rural unrest and mass migration to urban centers. Agrarian reform has been seen as a key state intervention that would reduce poverty by redistributing wealth and transform rural areas into centers of equity-led economic growth by ensuring investments in agriculture. This became the goal of the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP); the impact it has created in creating a better life for thousands of Filipino farmers has made it one of the most effective poverty reduction programs in the Philippines today.
