CONTINUOUSLY alarmed that today’s farmers are getting old and their children don’t appear keen on taking over farming because of their lack of interest and insufficient incentive, Fourth District Rep. Christopher de Venecia refiled his bill providing for a Magna Carta of young farmers to address the impending crisis.

Citing a 2015 report from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), De Venecia said young farmers aged 39 and below account for only 12.3 percent of farmers in the major commodity sector, and the average age of a Filipino farmer today is 57-59 years old.

Soon, despite being a predominantly agricultural country, it will face a critical shortage of farmers, De Venecia said.

He said an enabling policy framework that will provide a sense of pride for young Filipino farmers is necessary so they will opt to stay in the farms, make a decent living from agriculture and secure the food sufficiency of the country.

De Venecia’s bill specifically aims to promote the social and economic well-being of young farmers; develop their skills and capabilities; and eliminate discrimination against them by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling, and promoting their rights.

It defines and guarantees the empowerment of young farmers including their political, civil and social rights (right to food security, and productive resources, decent work, livelihood, credit, capital, and technology, education and training, participation and representation, information, social protection, recognition and preservation of cultural identity).

It also outlines the duties of the State to provide sufficient public funds and incentives, and strengthen young farmers’ organizations through government research and extension work, trainings and related capacity-building measures.

He aid BAS had warned that the number of farmers went down to 11.84 million in 2015 from 12.47 million in 201 and this was evident in the apparent the waning interests of young people in entering agriculture courses, citing the 4.7% decline in 2014 (from 51% in 2015)  in enrollment in the University of the Philippines-Los Banos in agriculture courses.

He also cited the fact that farmers  are among the poorest sector in the country, comprising 41.4% of the 26.6% poverty incidence in 2914, since the  average daily wage of a farmer is approximately P240 versus the national average of P400, and worse most farmers do not receive it on a daily basis as many farm jobs are seasonal. (PhilStar Wire Service)

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