Special Report: The Controversy Over Luxury Farmhouses and the Transfer and Sale of Farmland
Lead photo / Kuo Chih-jung
[Editor's preface] Recently the "luxury farmhouse" controversy has erupted on all sides, and shows signs of continuing to spread.
A few days ago (10/14), the Taiwan Rural Front issued a public statement, "Putting Farmland to Agricultural Use and Farmhouses to Agricultural Use–Reviewing Article 18 of the Agricultural Development Act and Amending the Regulations Governing the Construction of Farmhouses——Taiwan Rural Front Statement," pointing out that the origin of this phenomenon lies in the 2000 amendment of the Agricultural Development Act, which opened up free trading of farmland, and in the fact that current regulations on farmhouse construction are too loose and vague, leading to continued loss of farmland, fragmentation of land, and problems such as luxury farmhouses not used for agriculture affecting the surrounding farming environment; the Rural Front demands that both the ruling and opposition parties immediately conduct a comprehensive policy review of this phenomenon and propose solutions.
Several reports can help us understand the hidden concerns behind the "luxury farmhouse" phenomenon:
1. Explosive growth of farmhouses: The Agricultural Development Act opened the door wide, and luxury farmhouses surged to more than 12,000 buildings, many of which violate the principle of "farmland for agricultural use" (quoted from "Tens of Thousands of Luxury Farmhouses! Vague Laws Leave Local Governments Helpless")
2. Irreversible harm to farmland: Farmland is not construction land, but people run their own utility lines for luxury farmhouses, wasting the nation's energy, and many luxury farmhouses discharge domestic wastewater directly into nearby channels, polluting irrigation water, while their shadows are unfavorable to the growth of crops in neighboring fields (quoted from "Farmland Not Used for Farming: Luxury Farmhouses Are Nothing New")
3. Loss of farmland: In 1980 Taiwan still had 640,000 hectares of cultivated land; in 2002 this shrank to 470,000 hectares, and by 2005 only 230,000 hectares remained. If numbers could speak, this would represent that Taiwan's agriculture is facing an irreversible decline: cultivated land is rapidly disappearing! (quoted from "Architects and Farmhouses: An Apology Letter to the Next Generation of Architects")
Taiwan Rural Front spokesperson Tsai Pei-hui stated that once the Agricultural Development Act was loosened in 2000, farmland trading and farmhouse construction became almost out of control; and the farmhouse controversy further involves many issues that still need to be clarified:
1. The fundamental difference between farmhouses needed by farmers for actual cultivation and luxury farmhouses;
2. Insufficient residential land in rural areas, causing rural families to split up;
3. The needs of young people moving into the countryside and retirees seeking pastoral life, all of which rush toward "farmhouses on farmland," confusing the definitions of "rural residential housing" and "farmhouses";
While many people pay attention to the situation of Taiwan's agriculture, farmland and farmers, and worry about Taiwan's low food self-sufficiency rate, Taiwan's total farmland is continuing to decline; at the same time, luxury farmhouses "also cause farmland fragmentation, and soaring farmland prices make many small farmers actually engaged in agricultural management suffer unbearably, severely undermining the sustainable development of Taiwan's agriculture" (Tsai Pei-hui, quoted from "Farmhouse Controversy: Rural Front Calls for Legal Amendments to Block It"). Therefore, reviewing the controversy over farmland transfer and sale, farmland for agricultural use, and protection of farmers' livelihoods can no longer be delayed.
Through this statement, the Rural Front hopes to draw public attention to the above issues, with the aim of broadening the basis for discussion, consolidating civic power, and thereby building momentum for legal reform.
News&Market will also conduct follow-up interviews and reports on this issue, and sincerely invites readers and all sectors to join the discussion. You may express your views in the comments below this article, or send submissions to <[email protected]> with the subject line "Farmland for Agricultural Use," and we ask everyone to keep paying attention.
Related Articles
04 Liao Pen-chuan: Thoroughly Review the Institutional Gaps Devouring Farmland
Recently the "luxury farmhouse" issue has sparked much controversy, while also highlighting the problem of Taiwan's farmland being continuously lost to speculative trading and conversion into urban or industrial land. This article reviews this phenomenon and the institutional gaps. The author argues that the Council of Agriculture should make good use of the farmhouse construction dispute to strengthen its function as the competent authority defending agriculture and farmland: on the one hand, stopping within the system the devouring of farmland by urban and industrial land development; on the other hand, immediately carrying out source-level institutional reform, evaluating the policy effectiveness of the Agricultural Development Act amendment, analyzing the problems presented by farmhouse construction over the past decade, understanding farmers' current living conditions and needs, and reviewing and amending (or even abolishing) Article 18 of the Agricultural Development Act.
03 Taiwan Rural Front: Change the Chaos of Farmhouses Everywhere and Farmland Being Swallowed Up
The controversy over Taiwan's luxury farmhouses has a long history. Looking back at the past, one finds precisely that Taiwan's skewed and distorted agricultural, farmland and rural policies over the past two decades "bred" the many deformed farmhouses on farmland; such chaos has made agricultural production conditions increasingly poor, and farmland is also being continuously lost to land speculation and conversion into urban or industrial land. The author argues that farmland is not an ordinary commodity, but a precious fixed resource with national land ecological security functions, so farmland transactions should be strictly controlled, ensuring that every farmland transaction submits proof of agricultural use of the farmland, and only after the competent authority verifies and approves it may transfer and sale proceed. This might curb farmland speculation while also ensuring the housing and production needs of genuine farmers.
02 Taiwan Rural Front Statement: Putting Farmland to Agricultural Use and Farmhouses to Agricultural Use–Reviewing Article 18 of the Agricultural Development Act and Amending the Regulations Governing the Construction of Farmhouses
Recently the luxury farmhouse controversy has erupted on all sides. Based on its position of supporting Taiwan's small farmers and defending the agricultural environment, the Taiwan Rural Front puts forward the statement "Putting Farmland to Agricultural Use and Farmhouses to Agricultural Use–Reviewing Article 18 of the Agricultural Development Act and Amending the Regulations Governing the Construction of Farmhouses," calling on both the ruling and opposition parties to swiftly amend the law in this legislative session, structurally reforming the long-standing problems of current regulations on farmhouse construction being too loose and vague, and safeguarding farmers' rights and the sustainable production environment of agriculture.
01 Special Report: The Controversy Over Luxury Farmhouses and Farmland Transfer and Sale
Further Reading
1. Produced by Li Hui-yi, "Whom Did the Agricultural Development Act Benefit," April 14, 2008, "Our Island," an in-depth report on "Article 18 of the Agricultural Development Act." Compared with then, the situation now has not improved. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewhWT6B36nk
2. Sun Te-hung, "Architects and Farmhouses: An Apology Letter to the Next Generation of Architects" http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/fleishmannfan/article?mid=1532
3. When the Agricultural Development Act was amended in 2000, the Green Citizens' Action Alliance and many environmental and civic groups formed the "Grand Alliance Against the Brutal Sell-off of Farmland," preserving much of the discussion from that time (thanks to Wei-chieh of the Green Citizens' Action Alliance for providing the materials).http://ago.gcaa.org.tw/action/