Jasper still believes in the Dream

This is an excerpt from a motivation letter sent in by Jasper Alpuerto.

He is currently pursuing his Doctorate degree in Crop, Soil and Environmental Science at Virginia Tech.

As for my motivation to be in this team, I started to study and work in agriculture and other related disciplines to be able to contribute with food security and crop improvement. So far, I believe I am barely scratching the surface of how much I have to learn and I believe I am still way far behind in achieving the goal of contributing something out there for the farmers and consumers. I am still working on it and I won’t give up until I am able to reach that goal. I joined this team because I believe I can contribute to the mission-vision of the group. I would like the group to grow and be known for helping farmers and consumers to understand and be productive in agriculture and other related fields particularly food security. I want to go back in the Philippines and see that the younger generation won’t have the same image as they have now of farmers. They need us to continue and pursue our goals because I believe without us, the future generation will be doomed

It is an honor to have you on our team, Jasper.

The land that feeds

 

 

It is a no-brainer that agriculture is one of the most important sectors in a country. It provides livelihood and feeds an entire nation.

 

Yesterday, as I was listening to a privilege speech at the Philippine House of Representatives, a congressman narrated a story…

He went to a trip to Sweden once and he saw that there were numerous, huge and extravagant summer houses. He assumed that these were owned by politicians, or businessmen, as it is in the Philippines. So he asked the tour guide, “Whose houses are those?” And the guide replied, “Those are owned by farmers. They raise cattle and sheep and make cheese.” Needless to say, the congressman was surprised. In our country, one of the poorest sectors are the farmers. They lease land from lot owners and loan money to buy seedlings for a cropping season; praying to the heavens that no typhoons nor drought shall hit their crops. Unfortunately, this is most unlikely to happen. In the end, most farmers amass even more debt than they could handle.

We are an agricultural country. We could produce some of the best rice varieties and crops. We export agricultural products and by-products. But we are also a vulnerable nation. Typhoons and drought, poor infrastructure and the loss of interest of the younger generations on agriculture are some of our vulnerabilities.

Land use planning is a diverse study which involves social, environmental and economic considerations before zoning different parcels of land into which use they are most compatible with. The Philippines has viable lands, some are converted into industrial or residential use and some are just kept hanging. This is where land use planning kicks in.  Considering the demographics of a province or barangay, its needs and capacities, we could put idle lands to good use without sacrificing environmental quality and integrity and improving the citizenry’s living standards.

At Dream Agritech, we have an initiative called Idle to Ideal which aims to convert idle lands into something more. We considered the social aspect by assuring that the out-of-school youth and women in the area will be the primary beneficiaries thru providing free agriculture trainings on organic farming, crop identification, planting, harvesting, storage and mainstreaming climate resiliency and making our future farmers more robust than before. Subjects like reading, writing and math will also be handled by the enthusiastic team of Dream. Economically, the produce and profit shall be shared by the land owner and its farmers.

We are hoping that this will be a new beginning, one of brighter future both for land use and agriculture.

Louise Alcalde is a graduate of University of the Philippines at Los Banos. She is currently working at the House of Representatives. She is a registered and certified Environmental Planner.

 Featured photo grabbed from: https://www.hoppler.com.ph/blog/featured-articles/can-foreigners-own-property-in-the-philippines

Wanted: Youth in Agriculture

It is so fitting that the first entry for this blog site is about the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB), as all of the members of Dream Agritech come from the hallowed halls and verdant fields of this bucolic paradise south of Metro Manila.

There was an article on Inquirer.net about the sharp decline of enrollment in Agriculture at UPLB.  “Agriculture is becoming the least appealing career choice.” says Jesusita Coladilla from the UPLB School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM). This is saddening, because not only is this the trend at UPLB, we are seeing this trend across all the agricultural schools in the country. People aren’t lining up to take agriculture.

Agriculture has fallen behind courses that offer titles (Medicine, Law, Engineering, Nursing, Accounting, Dentistry) and courses that offer better opportunities, specifically those that provide the highest salaries. (Economics, Management, Information Technology, Hotel and Restaurant Management). Agriculture is an after-thought.

Agriculture graduates are somewhat under-employed. I have heard of agriculture graduates being used as laborers on farms. Now, there is nothing wrong with being a laborer, but these people didn’t go through 4 years of a college course; investing time, money and effort just to perform menial tasks on a daily basis. I am sure that this was not what they had in mind when they signed up to take agriculture.

Now if you were in that situation, would you encourage people to go into agriculture? It’s like the old farmer telling his kids to stay away from farming, all over again.

Now as I pointed out on my Facebook post, we can attract the youth towards agriculture once they see that it is profitable:

“One possible solution towards this is if we showcase agriculture as an industry where you can be an entrepreneur, while contributing to society by being a vital member of the supply chain as a food producer. Access to credit, technology, institutional support and markets are some of the ways we can implore young people to join this sector.”

I mean, I didn’t just come up with this. I have asked experts about this:

Kamal Kishore (Coordinator, Rainfed Livestock Network)

“There are three critical points. First off, we have to elevate the status of being an Agriculturist. He/she should have prestige. Second, farming should be treated as an enterprise. We have to give access to bank credit and create incentives. Lastly, it should be profitable.”

Dr. Abdul Halim (Head, Department of Agriculture, PNG University of Technology)

“The most important thing is incentives. They must feel the need to get involved in agricultural activities. Increase job security, food security for the agriculturist and the family. Increase the prospects for youth to build a career in agriculture. They should create new jobs, instead of traditional agriculture; it should be market-driven agriculture. In Papua New Guinea, youth take advantage of the available resources that they have and they always look for things which have high demand in the market. They should also be inspired through agriculture activities and training.”

Dr. Virginia Cardenas (Deputy Director l-Administration, SEARCA; Steering Committee member, GFRAS; APIRAS)

“Make them attracted to agriculture through the following activities. First, create awareness of economic opportunities in agriculture using various communication media, especially social media, and field visits to successful agro-entrepreneurs. Secondly, demonstrate that agriculture is profitable and a sustainable livelihood system. Third, development agencies should help them be innovative. Create a small-scale test for appreciation and evaluation.

Help should be readily available to them when they decide to go into agriculture. Support services should be accessible to allow them to practice agriculture. We should also organize them and help them think and behave like entrepreneurs. Business advisers will be needed and, of course, government and private sector support.”

It is clear that we need agriculturists. Like I told that person belittling agriculturists:

“I don’t know how you can belittle and demean a profession which allows you to exist. Without agriculture, you would be dead. It’s not a figure of speech. It’s funny that in a reply you said that you will just import food; ignoring the fact that no matter where it comes from, it will still be a product of Agriculture.”

Our government boasts of steady economic growth and development in the Philippines. That we, as a country, are on our way up. For this to be felt by all Filipinos, it is in the agriculture sector where growth and development must take place. I mean, it is basic: less hungry people, better country. Simple, yet quite hard to accomplish.

We need to encourage the youth to go into this industry not only to continually feed us, but these youth should also be responsible is taking care of our planet. Sustainable food production systems should be the norm. This can be encouraged by rewarding farms that practice sustainable farming practices.

The farmer is aging.

Who’s next?

To the youth: You’re next.

 

Image from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Carabao_Park_Close_up_UPLB.JPG