“May Pera sa Agrikultura: Encouraging students to invest in Agriculture”

Good morning/afternoon!
In today's webinar, we'll place the spotlight to the underrated hard workers of
the centuries which are the farmers. So what about farmers? You must be
thinking, “What is there to talk about agriculture?” Well, learners ought to know
that agriculture is one of the main contributor in the Philippine economy. So
today we will talk about the livelihood of the farmers and the underlying
opportunities that lay in agriculture.
Agriculture is said to be the traditional backbone of Philippine economy. Ito
ang pangunahing pinagkukunan ng income at trabaho. In fact, almost half of the
total labor force is emoloyed with the help of it. And of course everyone is directly
benefiting from it, let us take for example the food you eat, the food you eat is a
product of agriculture. Although you buy it in a mart, in groceries or in
restaurants, it still remains a product of agriculture. To comprehend how
important it is, imagine if the sector of agriculture will disappear, where would we
get our necessities? Saan tayo kukuha ng makakain? How many people would loss
their job? Ilang Pilipino ang mawawalang ng trabaho? Who will suffer? Of course
US.
That is why, it is very important to educate learners with what is agriculture,
its purpose, and its contributions. But before that, we should also take time to
recognize who are the people behind agriculture? Agriculture itself would not
grow and expand without farmers. Farmers are the foundation of agriculture for
they maintain its growth. Although farmers do provide food security for the
masses, it is very unfortunate that the Filipino Agricultural workers remain among
the poorest and most disadvantaged group in our society. They are the provider
and yet they are unsecured and unprotected. Among their greatest and most
problematic issue is the volatility of palay prices in the market. It seems that in
today's market, factorized product cost way higher than the labor work of farmers
for their palay and what’s more saddening is that people think it is only
acceptable. Sa tingin natin porke maganda ang isang bagay, okay lang na
presyuhan ng mahal pero kapag presyong bigas ang tinaasan, we often complain.
Another thing that farmers are having trouble about is the land they do cultivate
but never owned. It puts them in the mercy of landlords which in turn less their
underrated income despite working all day under the sun. The plight of the
Filipino farmers in the Philippines is not very pleasing unlike farmers in our
neighboring country like Vietnam, Japan, Korea where farmers are treated and
respected highly for they put the foods in our plate.
Now let us find out what farmers do and how do they qualify.
A farmer plants crops and raises animals. They harvest and sell their goods
to produce markets and food companies both nationally and internationally. For a
whole day, they stay under the scorching heat of the sun. Their work is very
vulnerable to weather and crop diseases and just like what is mentioned earlier,
their harvest are often subjected to price vacillations. Farmers are trained through
hands-on experience and are not required to have a college degree. Ibig sabihin
lamang nito ay kahit sino ay pwedeng maging isang magsasaka, including YOU.
Unlike other jobs and profession, people often failed to see the beauty in
agriculture. However, in recent Miss Universe Philippines Pageant 2020,
Candidate of Miss Davao, Alaiza Malinao took the opportunity to advocate the
beauty of Agriculture setting herself as an example to many Filipinos. According to
her, “Nation would not progress if it is hungry” and agriculture is what appeases
this hunger. Another persona who step up for agriculture is Jodloman, a native
from Mindanao who founded the youth movement “Palay and Food Secure
Philippines” which aims to empower rural-farming communities. Likewise, Social
Security System (SSS) and Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) continues to
bring social security coverage to the most vulnerable sectors of society, the
farmers and fisher folks in provinces. Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte also
advocate for agriculture and she founded the Plant Now Pay Later Scheme as well
the guide for farmers on what to plant and where to sell their harvest. These are
the few advocacies and campaign that supports farmers and promotes
agricultures. You might be thinking that it is not as influential compared to
campaigns against drugs, early pregnancy and the likes. That is why we are here
empowering you with the knowledge and importance of agriculture so at least
one among you would step up and speak the beauty of agriculture.
Right now, you might not be as certain as you should with how important
agriculture is, so just remember this one thing, “Food is the lifeline of people, and
food is from agriculture. If agriculture would cease to exist and develop, people
will starved. Economy will decline. There would be hunger and poverty
everywhere and the people itself will suffer.” That is why you should think about
what you can do to help sustain and flourish agricultural sectors. Tanungin mo
ang iyong sarili, “ Ano nga ba ang magagawa mo?”. You should stop yourself from
entertaining irrational thoughts that it doesn't concerns you. Instead, you should
invest your time, effort, generosity and knowledge to advocate agriculture. There
are tons of opportunities in agriculture, keep your eyes open to see them and led
your heart to advocate them. You must be asking HOW? Well, Our team have
researched on how we can help and support our local farmers during these
pandemic and here is what on top of our list; A social enterprise called Rural
Rising Philippines endorses the rescue buying of agricultural products. This entails
buying produce from distressed farmers who have no buyers. They offer bulk
amount of fresh vegetables in a low price. If anyone of you is interested you can
always message them in their facebook page.
To help ease the plight of farmers during the pandemic, students from
University of the Philippines Diliman founded the Farmer-Community Assisstance
program to aid the livelihood of rice farmers in Libmanan, Camarines Sur, by
selling their rice in Metro Manila. You can inquire on their facebook and
instagram account for your queries. Next on the list is the Sadiwa, a women-led
initiative that promotes and sells agricultural products such as fresh fruits, coffee
beans, and homemade jams from the Cordillera region. Their excess produce
were mostly donated and given free for frontliners. Likewise, Bagsakan Farmers
Market sells their produce online. You can also check Veggie for Good and
Project Pesante which operates online. Lastly we have the Bayanihan Para Sa
Magsasaka, a youth-led initiative that partners with different organizations in
order to gather donations for rice farmers in Tarlac, Pangasinan, and Misamis
Oriental. Similarities among these enterprise is that their goods are not only fresh
but also affordable. You can help them by purchasing your necessities on their
enterprises. These are only few among the opportunities you can invest in to help
our fellow Filipino farmers. Remember that by simply supporting these activities,
know that YOU are making a CHANGE!
Thank you very much for giving us your time!
Vien Lois M.