Where previously a bitter civil war raged, there is now no hunger, almost no poverty and virtually no crime. What a Filipino mayor has achieved with his “Arms to Farms” program in Kauswagan, a town of 27,000 inhabitants with 13 villages (barangays), is unparalleled. It is the success story of an urban community on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao which stands as a global model for finding solutions to social challenges – and in addition demonstrates that the causes of armed conflicts often are quite different from what appears to be the case at first glance.

The initiator and mastermind behind this inspiring success is Mayor Rommel C. Arnado. The successful businessman proved to be a great visionary and pragmatic man of action. With his family he had lived in the USA for 28 years until, on a visit to his former homeland, he found desolate conditions: a decades-long civil war between Islamic rebels and government troops had its epicenter in the province of Lanao del Norte and especially in his hometown. When rebels from the Moro-Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) occupied the town and took 300 hostages, the Philippine president personally came to Kauswagan and declared “total war” on the MILF. This did not bring peace, but only a continuation of violent conflict and killings.

Rommel Arnado, on the other hand, had a vision of “total peace”. Although he had no political experience, he decided to take on responsibility. He ran for mayor in 2010. According to him, his main motivation was a deep sense of justice and political responsibility for the well-being of the people – but above all his Christian faith. While everyone saw the civil war primarily as a conflict between the Christian and Islamic religions, Rommel Arnado had a different insight, namely that the real causes of the bloody clashes were severe poverty and hunger as well as horrendous corruption. So he initiated the daring and ambitious “From Arms to Farms” project, which can best be described with the slogan of the peace movement in former communist East Germany: “Swords to Plowshares”.

Organic farming creates peace, health and prosperity

To begin with, the Mayor succeeded in setting up a dialog with extremely distrustful rebel leaders, disappointed by unfulfilled political agreements or promises, and gradually won them over to his idea of bringing peace and prosperity to Kauswagan and the surrounding region through agriculture and responsible politics. Getting to the rebel camps in the jungle was risky at first. He would probably have been shot on the way there had he not known some of the “Kumander” from their shared schooldays – and from the basketball court.

It was clear to Mayor Rommel that his agricultural program would only be sustainable if it was based on the natural methods of organic farming and was not burdened by expensive fertilizer, seed and pesticide costs. The rebel leaders in the region and their troops were thus trained in organic farming and re-integrated into their villages. In the end, 15 “Kumander” of the MILF and their troops joined the “From Arms to Farms” program, which meant that around 5,000 guerrilla fighters stopped fighting and killing and committed themselves to peace.

Mayor Rommel did not gain their cooperation with a pacifist approach of “creating peace without weapons” – he had not demanded that fighters give up their weapons. Instead, he appealed to them: “I don't want you to surrender your arms, instead I want you to surrender your hearts.” This approach proved to be the right one. If you open your heart to your enemy, you no longer want to and will never kill him again. An incredible success was achieved: Today, Christians and Muslims in the Kauswagan region live together in peace, solidarity and friendship.

"He has not only turned guerrilla fighters into organic farmers”, says rebel leader ”Kumander Bravos“. “In a Muslim-dominated region, a quarter of the members of his city council are women and he has reserved a seat on the council for a young person who can be elected by young people aged 15 and over.“ And he adds: “Each village is represented on the town council by a ‘captain’ elected by the residents.” Rommel had also launched an extensive training program, he says, in which young as well as adult people could qualify for various professions. In addition, the practice of organic farming had led to nature being consistently protected in Kauswagan. “Almost the entire coast has been declared a nature reserve”, he says.

Trust is the basis for peace

Most of the rebels returned to their roots as farmers. Not only were they taught organic farming, but they also received technical support by sharing machinery and loans for seeds and organic fertilizer. This was made possible in part by support from the Catholic St. Francis of Assisi Foundation. For the first time in their lives, the former fighters have experienced a politician that keeps his promises. Thanks to this basis of trust, it was possible to convert agriculture in Kauswagan completely to organic farming in a remarkably short space of time.

This has led to a significant increase in food production, boosting farmers' incomes by 40 percent. Together with programs for around 150 fishermen, this has contributed significantly to a situation where there is no longer any hunger in Kauswagan today.

All of this was made possible above all by the expansion of the agriculture department in the city administration. Out of 300 municipal employees, 50 dedicate their energy and manpower to the agricultural sector alone, including an agricultural high school with 120 pupils. A campus focusing on agriculture is currently being built in cooperation with the State University of Mindanao.

Further prosperity has been created by the establishment of a coal-fired power plant, which now employs 500 people, and by the revival of tourism, which had come to a standstill during the civil war. In the course of the upswing, many small companies and businesses in a wide variety of sectors have emerged, which in turn provide secure jobs and income for residents. As a result, since his first term in office in 2010 (he has since been re-elected four times), the mayor has significantly increased the city's tax income from close to zero – which made many investments into the further development of Kauswagan possible.

Education is the basis for development

Kauswagan has been awarded the national prize for education four times for his enormous progress in the area of literacy. The mayor also came to grips with drug addiction, which is a serious problem in the Philippines as well. On the one hand, drug consumption is closely linked to poverty, and on the other, he has created the “Balay Silangan Center”, a rehabilitation center with a reputation far beyond Kauswagan, where people from other cities and provinces can also undergo free withdrawal therapy. Nowadays, there is now virtually no crime in the city.

“Mayor Rommel Arnado is a godsend,” says former city treasurer Laudacio Lacang. "He has turned this municipality from ashes into a paradise. He is a model of excellence, a peacemaker and a promoter of economic development." Mayor Rommel Arnado is a role model for vision, courage, wisdom and active humanism. However, he himself leaves no doubt that all of this was only possible because people with a shared dream of peace came together. Kauswagan's success story therefore has a father and many parents. First and foremost, the rebel leaders and the barangay captains, as well as the municipal parliament and local government employees.

The peace process and the exemplary sustainable development of Kauswagan are now well known in the Philippines and also in Asia. Last year, Kauswagan won the national competition for the country's most innovative and sustainable community – in a field of almost 1,500 applicants. In December 2024, Rommel Arnado received the World Future Council's international Policy Award, also known as the Policy Oscar, in Geneva. All these indications demonstrate that the world can be inspired and motivated by “Arms to Farms”.

In His Own Words: Interview with Rommel Arnado

Bernward Geier: Mr. Arnado, when you became mayor of Kauswagan in 2010, you faced a huge challenge. What did it consist of?

Rommel C. Arnado: Politically, I was a complete greenhorn at first. People lived in constant fear and often literally ran for their lives, because our region was the epicenter of a civil war. There was zero trust in the local and regional government. The main challenge was to establish peace and order and to organize reconstruction.

What was the cause of the violence and destruction?

The main reason was the desperate situation of the population due to great poverty. The total failure of politics and administration had even led to a famine, which in turn ultimately led to civil war.

Organic farming played a central role in your plan for peace and reconstruction. Why?

I had to restore trust in politics and give people back their dignity. We wanted Kauswagan to become not only a region of peace, but also a center for safe and healthy food production. The vision of the “From Arms to Farms” program is based on two pillars: Peace and sustainable development. It was clear to us that organic farming is a key to fighting hunger. Thanks to organic farming, we have been able to avoid the dependence, costs and environmental destruction of industrial farming methods and thus significantly increase the income of farming families. This brought about food security and sustainable progress.

What did the “From Arms to Farms” program offer?

We offered the rebels to lay down their weapons in exchange for land and training in organic farming. At first, a few commanders and 100 guerrilla fighters accepted. Then it became 600 and finally thousands of guerrilla fighters laid down their arms.

What is the situation in Kauswagan today? How high is the poverty rate?

Our programs completely changed the socio-economic situation to the better for the population. The poverty rate fell from almost 80 percent to nine percent within nine years. One of the reasons for this was that all families are now able to produce their own food. Our training program reached not only the former rebels, but ultimately all the inhabitants of the region. We established community gardens in the villages, and for the past five years it has been compulsory for every household to join one if they cannot provide themselves with food from their own garden. Hunger no longer exists in the city.

You also work with Demeter, Naturland and Misereor. Why?

We cooperate with Demeter International primarily in order to improve our organic farming and with their help are gradually converting to biodynamic farming. We are also jointly developing a certification system. We have completed a project with Naturland and Misereor to establish a participatory control system for the local and regional marketing of our organic farmers' products. We are currently considering the continuation of this significant and successful cooperation.

Can your success story serve as inspiration for other regions?

Many cities and regions in our country are already adopting our strategies. There are now around 500 mayors in the national umbrella organization of organic mayors. We are also exchanging ideas worldwide with interested countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, China, Mongolia and Brazil. We are happy to pass on our knowledge and experience, especially to war zones, of which there are unfortunately over 30 in the world at the moment.

What are your plans for the future?

We are working on making Kauswagan a national and international center for ecological and sustainable learning. We are also working with the university to set up an institute for organic farming. In this way, we want to help many regions make the transition to 100% organic farming.

Do you have any recommendations for the Global North?

My advice to politicians is first and foremost to listen to people, but also to turn words into action. It is of fundamental importance to ensure that the basic needs are met. Historically, the global North through colonialism has exploited the natural resources and people of the South extremely and brutally, which is particularly true for my country. Unfortunately, this is still happening today and must be stopped.

What should change?

Most countries in the global South want to develop ecologically and sustainably. To achieve this, support from the North must be significantly increased. Europe, and Germany in particular, which is so strong economically, should do more to give global support for sustainable development and the fight against the climate catastrophe.

Bernward Geier has since his youth been a committed pacifist, environmental activist and pioneer of organic farming, as well as a journalist, author of books and director of films. For 18 years he was director of the global network of organic farming IFOAM – Organics International. He lives on an organic farm in the West of Germany.