Young Farmers Open Letter Entry #5: Hyacinth Bangero, Philippines

I am Hyacinth Bangero, a young Filipino farmer who was raised by a teacher and a farmer. At age 27, I wear several hats and one of them is being a farmer.

I do not have formal training in managing farmlands, but my education was supported through the produce of our farmland managed by my father. My knowledge about farming was from random conversations I had with my father whenever we hit the road.

My father spent his golden years tilling farms—choosing this over greener pastures he could have found through his engineering degree. Thus, seeing him lose drive towards farming torments me. In recent years, there were policies implemented by the government that affected small and medium farmers. I have seen how my father struggled to employ people to work at the farm as most of the workers he used to employ are no longer accepting jobs because of the availability of dole-outs from the government.

The agriculture sector needs to find ways to provide farmers with access to finance or provide support for the acquisition of farm equipment. This way, the issue of lack of farm laborers can be resolved.

There is still hope for the agriculture sector of our country, but if the young generation is discouraged, it would mean the agriculture sector’s degradation to the extinction should skills transfer fails to betide.

Hyacinth Bangero
Philippines