• The drop in subsidies and support from the public sector has limited rural communities’ access to education, health, water, electricity and agricultural subsidies. Moreover, privatization of essential sectors, including agricultural services, seeds, and credit services, further limits accessibility to subsidies and support. Land grabbing further limits access to the abovementioned basic social services. Thus, the combination of lack of support from the public sector and loss of land is detrimental to small-scale farmers and peasants who eventually resort to money-lenders with very high interest rates for their daily expenses.