TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan—”Small farmers which include women in small family farms will be the future in food production in this country and not the corporate farms.”
Thus said Senator Cynthia Villar, the chairman of the Senate’s committee on Agriculture, as she stressed that food production does not belong to large companies when it comes to making the country self-sufficient and that women have a great tasks and important roles to play.
But sadly, Villar said, that while women have always been the dominant force in agriculture, many among them are still in the poverty level.
Villar cited reports from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization of an increased world population by 2050 which will require farmers to produce not less than 70 percent of world’s total production of food.
She also noted that in the countryside, majority of small farmers and fishermen belong to the most marginalized sector in the country where women does the majority of the tasks.
The senator was here to grace the celebration of Women’s Month after visiting Nueva Vizcaya last week to grace a growing credit cooperative in their general assembly. She also visited the province of Isabela.
Villar said at least one-fourth of the world’s population are farmers who are women of great influence.
“Twenty-five percent of the world’s population are women farmers whose role are significant but they are not aware of how powerful they are,” she said.
Villar also encouraged the women of Tuguegarao City to engage themselves in waste recycling to become more productive citing Las Piñas City where the people are making money from products made of waste materials.
She said women have a lot to contribute to development given the proper opportunities which include the opportunity to learn new skills and use those to attain a level of financial independence.