From Guns to Gardens: How Filipino Fighters Found Peace Through Farming

Imagine trading AK-47s for tractors and grenades for gardening tools. That’s exactly what happened in Kauswagan, a city in the Philippines’ northern Mindanao region, where former combatants swapped conflict for crops in a bold peace experiment.

Launched in 2010 under the ‘Arms to Farms’ program, this initiative helped ex-fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)—once focused on autonomy for Filipino Muslims—reintegrate into society. Today, they’re harvesting rice, corn, and vegetables instead of weapons.

Why it matters:

• Stable incomes for families once trapped in cycles of violence
• Children accessing education instead of growing up in conflict zones
• Award-winning results: Kauswagan bagged the 2016 Peace Prize from United Cities and Local Governments and a 2018 Future Policy Award honorable mention

Local leaders call it a ‘quiet revolution’—proof that sustainable solutions can grow from even the rockiest soil. As one farmer-turned-ex-combatant put it:

‘Our hands now feed communities instead of fighting them.’

Reference(s):

Fighters to farmers

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