The Critical Role of Women in Agricultural Development

(This research paper was presented at the 7th International Conference on Integration of Science and Technology for Sustainable Development last November 26, 2018 in Bali, Indonesia.)

Abstract

Around 30% of the rural population of Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines belongs to poor farming families. Most of them struggle to meet their basic needs. The situation of the women farmers, in particular, is harder despite their contribution to rural economic growth. Their role is not visible, and their contribution is undervalued. Because of this, most of them lack confidence, unable to harness their potentials in agricultural development.

To address this challenge, the Women Empowerment Movement- Rural Improvement Club (WEMRIC) launched a women empowerment program that seeks to improve the living conditions of the rural women by increasing income level, savings, livelihood opportunities, decision-making capacity, as well as changing gender relation in the area. The provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur and other agencies have provided support to the program.

Bringing College Education at the Doorstep of the Youths

(This nomination paper was recently submitted to three international awarding bodies.)

Provincial Governor Antonio Cerilles deserves significant recognition for coming up with an effective solution to the educational needs of the poor rural youths. He facilitated the forging of a partnership between a local state college (JHCSC) and the local government units (25 municipal governments) in the province of Zamboanga del Sur to put up a community college in every locality. It is a one-of-its-kind partnership in the country, if not in all developing countries. This partnership was able to establish a total of 25 community colleges in the province, covering all municipalities, effectively bringing tertiary education right at the doorsteps of the poor rural youths.

These community colleges allow youths to have access to quality and affordable tertiary education. Without these community colleges, many of the poor rural youths could not have gone to college for lack of money. For the past decade, these community colleges have already produced about 18,000 college graduates, which is around 60% of all college graduates in the province. Helping these youths become professionals resulted in a positive impact of this partnership to the entire province, and it may do so in other places if replicated.

ZamboSur Integrated Sports

(This nomination paper was submitted last year to Galing Pook Award, a national awarding body.)

         Sports development used to be pathetic in Zamboanga Del Sur. Though financially and logistically supported by the provincial government, The sports development program then was mainly handled by the provincial office of the education department (DepEd), as part of its national mandate to promote sports as an integral part of the basic education curriculum (BEC). Ever since, the provincial sports delegation had not achieved better than placing fourth in the overall standing of the regional sports competition. The athletes lacked the appropriate training and had no access to the necessary sports facilities and trained coaches. Without any sporting success to show and to raise the morale of its athletes, sporting participation in the elementary and high schools province-wide was very low, and the youth had much idle time.

Automated Real Property Taxation

(This nomination paper was submitted in 2017 to eGov Awards, a national awarding body.)          The automated real property taxation program of Zamboanga del Sur is a relational database solution that enables all the assessor and treasurer offices of the local governments of Zamboanga del Sur to perform efficiently and effectively its mandate on real property tax generation. The program records real properties, monitors them, retrieves information, and assesses the tax dues of real properties. From the treasurer’s end, the program records real property tax payments, issues official receipts accordingly, reports tax collection, and reports tax delinquents. These activities are done by linking all municipal assessor and treasurer offices in Zamboanga Del Sur, to the provincial treasurer and assessor offices thru electronic data sharing.

Gahung-gahung Organic Cassava Farming System

(This research paper was presented at the Regional Conference on Marketing & Innovation of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements last Oct. 2, 2015 in Goesan, South Korea.)

Introduction

         At present, smallholders provide more than 70% of total food eaten by people, using around 20-30% of arable land (Etc Group, 2013). They represent one-third of the world’s 7.3 billion people. Though they may sound like a major player in the global economy, they ironically represent the majority of the poorest and hungriest people in the world (Hugh Locke, 2015).

         In Zamboanga del Sur, a southwestern province of the Philippines, a new farming system is emerging that promises a bright future for the smallholders to be free from hunger and poverty. This new farming strategy aims to liberate the smallholders from hunger and poverty, the threshold of which is pegged by the Philippine government at $140 a month for a family of six. Since this new farming system is only applied to cassava crops at present, it is called the Gahung-gahung Organic Cassava Farming System (GO-CFS).  Upon assumption of office in 2010, Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Governor Antonio Cerilles conceptualized and rolled out the GO-CFS as his flagship livelihood project, targeting the smallholders as the primary beneficiaries. The GO-CFS appears to be a game changer to the life of the smallholders.