Women leaders in the agriculture and fisheries sector recently appealed to create a strong linkage among government agencies, local governments units (LGUs), and private sectors to reinforce women-centered strategies for climate resilient and adaptation.
More than 60 participants from the different regions of the country gathered on September 18 to 19, 2023 in Malvar, Batangas for the annual Women’s Dialogue with the theme “Empowering Women for Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation”.
The participants from the National Sectoral Committees (NSCs), Agricultural and Fishery Councils (AFCs), civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations, women farmers, fisherfolk, and entrepreneurs convened to address the challenges faced by women in the sector within the context of climate change.
During their insight interactive action session, women leaders noted that the government, LGUs, and private sectors should team up to create innovative farm and fishing technologies, good for the environment and efficient for women farmers and fishers. They also added that program implementations should be purposely cascaded and implemented from the region down to the municipal level.
They also recommended involving more women in policy- and decision-making organizations that would support the adaptation of organic and diversified farming.
“As women, wives and mothers, we know that promoting organic farming is one of the ways to mitigate the effects of climate change. Kaya din namin ito in-advocate kasi alam naming healthy para sa aming mahal sa buhay. However the government doesn’t have enough budget for organic agriculture and it is not the priority of our policy-makers at decision-makers because there are few women in the seats,” said OrganiKusina owner Carmen Cabling.
The two-day activity was spearheaded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) through its Gender and Development – Focal Point System (GAD-FPS).
“As part of PCAF’s commitment to provide opportunities among women in the agriculture and fishery sector to gather, share experiences, and learn from each other on how to harness innovation to address the impact of climate change, we have organized the annual Women’s Dialogue,” said OIC Executive Director Julieta Opulencia.
PCAF coordinated with the Philippine Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA) to highlight women leaders and stakeholders of the industry to be part of the dialogue. PPSA is a multi-stakeholder partnership platform initiated by Grow Asia, a regional platform for inclusive and sustainable agriculture development in Southeast Asia catalyzed by the World Economic Forum and the South ASEAN Secretariat.
The Dialogue highlights the success stories of women and women-led organizations in the industry to raise awareness and foster a shared understanding on the needs and challenges faced by women. It also aims to facilitate knowledge exchange of lessons learned, best practices, and solutions relative to gender-responsive approaches in climate change and resilience, and foster collaboration, and building linkages among the participants.
In a virtual message, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Finance and DA GAD-FPS Chairperson Agnes Catherine Miranda provided the participants with a list of policies, programs and projects for rural women as part of the Department’s efforts to narrow the gender gap.
These include the access to productive resources such as farm inputs, training, information materials, machineries, equipment, facilities, small scale irrigation, regulatory services, and market assistance for young women.
Usec. Miranda also mentioned the Adaptation and Mitigation in Agriculture program specifically implemented to address climate change and the Agri Pinay Program, a financial assistance program for women in agriculture which provides loans in the maximum amount of PhP100,000 without collateral, interest-free, and payable in five years.
She also shared that social protection is extended to rural women through insurance coverage of crops, livestock, and fisheries for damages due to calamities, and the development of the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture, an electronic compilation of basic information of farmers, agricultural workers, fisherfolk, and agri-youth nationwide that serves as basis for identifying beneficiaries of DA interventions.
The participants were able to collaborate and listen to speakers, which included Commissioner Rachel Anne Herrera of the Climate Change Commission, who talked about Gender and Climate Change, Morination Agricultural Products, Inc. President Sharon Jean Gulmatico shared Climate Resilient Agriculture, and Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement Project Coordinator Leonor Lava presented Enabling Communities to Respond to Disaster.
The Dialogue also featured “Spotlight Talk” with successful female farmers, entrepreneurs and agricultural innovators sharing their experiences, industry standards, challenges, and strategies in harnessing innovation and incorporating climate-smart agriculture into their farming practices, livelihood and communities.
The Spotlight Talk highlighted Myriad Farm owner Frianina Resplandor, Our Farmer’s Haven Federation, Inc. Operation Manager Vivian Concepcion, and Daluyang at Ugnayan ng Organisasyong Pangkababaihan (DALUYONG) member Lolita Natal. | Jezebel Campaniel
