The 1st National Small & Family Farmers; New & Beginning Farmers Conference will be held on March 20-21, 2017 at SEARCA at UPLB Laguna. This is for all small farmers and farms that are family run.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) the average small scale farms have an average size of 1.29 hectares. Even so, of all the 5.56 million farms 38% are half a hectare or less in size.
Given this backdrop and also according to the PSA, 60% of the Philippine population resides in the rural areas and thus have agriculture as the main industry for their livelihood, the economic upliftment of the country is now dependent of how the agricultural sector contributes to the national economy.
This serves as the impetus in having a comprehensive developmental plan for the agricultural sector with emphasis on small and family farms of the above mentioned scale.
Thus, the The 1st National Small & Family Farmers; New & Beginning Farmers Conference, brings together for the first time stakeholders of this very important yet often neglected segment of our agricultural industry.
Historically, agriculture or farming started out even in pre-historic times wherein the pressure of population gave the necessity of having farms together with the hunter-gatherer segments of a tribe and even a family so as to sustain its food supply.
This changed the usual nomadic existence to a more stable gathering of people for common security and food supply sustainability. Early farms were family owned and run farms. Owing to the size of the family, they can only manage efficiently a relatively small piece of land for their food needs. This form of subsistence farming still continues to this day in the Philippines.
The current small and family farms are run not only for family subsistence but also in integration with a modern economic system and thus also in the context of a modern social and cultural system that integrates domicile, recreation and even education.
The objective of this conference is promote the creation of systems of farming capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to the community. The central theme of this conference is how to mobilize our small and family farmers; new and beginning farmers for food security, sustainable tourism and rural development.
This conference is organized by a network of family farmers advocating promotion of family farming.
The conference aims to bring together a diversity of stakeholders primarily from the grassroots farming community together with professionals and leaders from academia, non-governmental organizations, governmental agencies and policy makers, whose goals and activities support the sustainability of small & family farmers and encouragement of new & beginning farmers. The conference aims to strengthen collaborations and partnerships among stakeholders, and will provide an opportunity to share new ideas in research, extension, and outreach that aim to build resilient farming systems and the quality of life within communities.
The conference will have plenary sessions, breakout sessions, poster, exhibits and success stories presentation. Pamiliyang Magsasaka Nights
For online registration, please follow this link : http://www.smallandfamilyfarmersconference.com/online-registration
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