Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Farmers yesterday ended their overnight protest in front of the Presidential Office against land seizures by the government, but despite their persistence, representatives were not granted a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Thousands of farmers from all over the country and their supporters began their protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office on Saturday evening and stayed there overnight.

Agriculture has seen its importance in Taiwan subside significantly in the past 50 years, accounting for just 1.5 percent of the nation’s GDP in 2008, compared with 32.2 percent in 1952. Nonetheless, the sector is still crucial to Taiwan in terms of food security and conservation.

Nowadays, when visiting any farming village around the country, one only sees aging farmers, old facilities and a sizable amount of land lying fallow. According to the government’s census data, full-time farming households made up about 21 percent of the total population in 2007, down from 40 percent in 1955, and only 740,000 people were employed by the sector in 2007, compared with 1.67 million in 1955.