Tags: Agribusiness, Livelihood Programs
By Nikka Garriga
BAY, LAGUNA–Rosalinda Redenque has been farming their land since she was a kid. Despite being in an industry where the common norm is to see men in the workforce, she considers herself one dependable farmer and no different from her counterparts.
“If I haven’t aged along the years I would still have opted to continue farming because a job like that knows no gender. Women farmers are also capable of doing what male farmers can in the field,” she says.
But more than the issue of which farmer is better than the other, Aling Rosalinda believes both men and women should instead work together to help alleviate their community especially in a rural villagae Barangay Maitim.
“Having the capable females lend a hand in harvesting crops can help bring more income. It can even strengthen the sense of working together as a family and promote kabayanihan since no one can help us but ourselves,” she says.
International groups like the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Philippine Peasant Institute (PPI) have likewise cited that women farmers have an active role to play in boosting food production and can contribute greatly in terms of economic stability.
Arthur Panopio, barangay captain of Maitim, recently established a cooperative of women farmers to help the men reap more crops and in turn, provide livelihood for the many unemployed women in their town.
“The cooperative will help them empower their skills which they can use to help provide for the needs of the family. They won’t have to resort to borrowing money elsewhere just so they can send their kids to school and put food on the table,” he says.
Mang Arthur is also hoping that this town’s initiative would inspire other impoverished areas in the country to follow on their steps to help develop their communities as well as its people.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) and Sinochem Philippines are lending a hand to the women farmers’ cooperative of Maitim through agricultural seminars and providing assistance for their crop-related needs.
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