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The Philippines will be out of

farmers soon!
By: Niño Aldjenn Belocura

October 28, 2021 · Asia Pacific, Youth, SDG 1 No Poverty, SDG 2 Food

The Philippines is known to be an agricultural country but now, it

is losing its farmers. This is a worrying situation that may lead to
problems for the country’s food security.

The country produces different agricultural products to serve its

needs and exports them to other countries as well. Now, it is
facing a grave problem of a depleting number of farmers. There
are a lot of factors that affect this decreasing number. According to
the University of the Philippines Los Baños, the average age of
farmers in the country is 53 years old. “Assuming that average
holds, we might reach a critical shortage of farmers in just 12 years
or so,” William Dar said, Secretary of the country’s Department of
Agriculture.

Farming is associated with Poverty

When you ask a Filipino about their perception of farmers, they

will mostly say farmers are poor. Some learning materials of young
students in the country portrayed farmers as poor or even inferior.
This may be a reflection of the people’s general perception of
 farmers. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, a
government agency responsible for gathering data, farmers, and
fishermen garnered the highest poverty incidences, in a 2018
survey, at 31.6 and 26.2 percent respectively. This is a sad reality
since farmers should have a decent, safe, and comfortable life just

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Perception of farmers’ sons and daughters

Now, the sons and daughters of farmers do not want to continue

farming like their parents are doing. They even prefer to go to a
City and earn a degree to have a completely different career and
abandon farming. Some even look for a minimum earning a job in
an urban setting to get out from agriculture. Meanwhile, their
parent farmers are left in rural places to continue farming. These
farmers are now weaker due to old age. Old age greatly affected
their productivity. This can greatly affect the overall production of
agricultural products and food security in the country.

There are a lot of reasons why their sons and daughters don’t
want to do farming. First, they see that jobs in the urban area are
cleaner and nicer. Second, they perceived farming as a low
income-generating job even at their early age. Third, they must
obey their parents as part of the culture. This means that children
are mandated to finish education in order to pursue non-farming
careers for a better life. These are just some of the reasons.
Farmers discourage their children from farming

The younger generation is even discouraged by the farmers from

doing farming. This move intensifies the younger generation’s
avoidance of farming or agriculture. Some farmers share with their
children that farming should be their least priority. They see that
farming is hopeless in providing their families with a comfortable
life. It is said to be a physically demanding but financially not
rewarding job. Instead, they encourage their children to pursue a
non-farming career through education. This might be a result of
different factors like farms being frequently devastated by storms,
low income or they don’t own their lands. Also, these farmers do
not have enough education. The highest educational level of
farmers is grade 5 on average. It means that it is somehow a
challenge for them to learn some innovative farming techniques
and the use of new technology. This adds to the urge of farmer
parents not to let their children follow in their footsteps.

Farming should be given importance

Farming is regarded as a low-class job in the country. Some people

look down on farmers because of the perception that they are
doing one of the lowest-paying jobs. There is a study that
suggests the higher the educational level of a person, the lower
the possibility of that person will go into farming. This is
somewhat ironic that education gives farming both positive and
negative effect towards farming. Now, it is the challenge of the
government and the people to change the public’s perception of
farming. They should now focus on the country’s food security and
address the current problems of agriculture in the country. Farmers
should be renowned as modern heroes that keep us all well-fed.

The Department of Agriculture is now encouraging young and

educated people of today to pursue agriculture. The threat of
depleting number of farmers might be addressed, given that
farmers will be given ideal working conditions for them to continue
and pass to the next generation. The decreasing number of
farmers might not be addressed unless an effective intervention or
solution will be done.

“Our nation is in need of educated, talented public servants and

leaders – especially in the field of agribusiness and food security. It
is a vocation that I highly recommend for those who seek deep,
personal satisfaction and who seek self-fulfillment,” Dar said.

References:

Philippine Statistics Authority (2018). Farmers, Fisherfolks, Individuals Residing

in Rural Areas and Children Posted the Highest Poverty Incidences Among the
Basic Sectors in 2018. Retrieved from: https://psa.gov.ph/content/farmers-
fisherfolks-individuals-residiNg-rural-areas-and-children-posted-highest-
poverty
 Saliot, A. (2013). Filipino Farmers - A Dying Breed?. IRIN Humanitarian News
and Analysis. Retrieved on October 7, 2021 from http://goo.gl/OgDmwM

DA Communications Group (2021). Future in agriculture takes spotlight in Ley

La Salle’s Business Law Conference. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved from:
https://www.da.gov.ph/future-in-agriculture-takes-spotlight-in-ley-la-salles-
business-law-conference/

Yap, E. G. (2014). Aging Small Scale Coconut Farmers in Central Philippines--

Their Perspectives on Farming, Succession and Future Impact on the Local
Ecology. IAMURE International Journal of Ecology and Conservation, 11(1), 1-1.

Palis, F. (2020). Aging Filipino Rice Farmers and Their Aspirations for Their
Children. Philippine Journal of Science, 149(2), 351-361.

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