Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment

SEARICE steps up efforts to develop
more youth advocates for agroecology

Youth training participants participate in SEARICE-CPSU field visit

Manila, Philippines, 21 June 2024--Twenty-one youth leaders from over 10 provinces in the Philippines took part in a “Youth Training on Agroecology for Sustainable Food Systems” organized by SEARICE in partnership with the Central Philippines State University (CPSU) Department of Agriculture on 8-10 June 2024 in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental Province.

The training, which was supported by DKA Austria, the largest children’s movement in Austria, aimed to build and strengthen an appreciation among the youth for agroecology as the pathway for transitioning from chemical farming towards sustainable food systems. SEARICE and its partners envision such youth awareness of agroecology as the foundation for building youth supporters of small farmers as well as developing more young farmers and agriculturists.

The training included discussions on the principles of agroecology, diverse and integrated farming systems, soil health and nutrition management, pest and disease management, seed conservation and management, crop improvement through breeding, and livestock production and management, among others. Resource persons included SEARICE executive director Normita Ignacio; Maryvic Pedrosa, faculty member and Director of the Production Enterprise Development Office of CPSU; Arnel Calago, Community Development Officer of CPSU; Prof. Jundel Gonzaga, faculty member of CPSU; SEARICE program officers, Guiller Domingo and Olive Seruelo, and SEARICE policy officer Caryl Pillora.

Aside from the discussions, hands-on exercises on breeding and field visits to sustainability models PeacePond and Sagup Negros were conducted by SEARICE and CPSU for the youth participants.

Just as importantly, SEARICE led a discussion on the Magna Carta for Youth Farmers Act of 2023, or House Bill 9329, which was filed in the Philippines’ Congress to address the trend of increasing numbers of rural youth abandoning farming as a profession.

The youth leaders represented five provinces in Luzon, four provinces in the Visayas, and two provinces in Mindanao, namely, Aurora, Rizal, Pangasinan, Quezon Province, Pampanga, Bohol, Aklan, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, North Cotabato, and Agusan del Sur.