LEGAZPI CITY—“Nag-uuma ngunyan si agom ko kaya ako an nag-atendir digdi sa programa kan gobyerno,” said Alicia Agripa, 62 and a mother of seven children.

Same reason of her colleagues from barangay Maslog was cited during the Project Launching and Training on Free-Range Chicken which is part of the Disaster Resiliency Through Diversified Farming Program of the Legazpi City Veterinary Office on January 22, 2020 at the Legazpi City Convention Center here.

Sonia Arimado, 49, a mother of four children said that aside from doing household chores, she assists her husband in rice and vegetable farming.

Widow Susan Talde, 54, and has 10 chilhedren shared that she attended this program to help augment their farm income. She used to help her husband in taking care of the rice field when he was still alive. She added that aside from her knowledge in rice farming, the ideas from the Diversified Farming Modules on Rice will increase their farm income for the education and sustenance of her family.

More than half of the 1,200 farmers from who participated in the said activity were women.

Lerma Abrigo, 40 and a mother of three children said that her husband sent her to the activity to learn the different ways of diversified farming. Abrigo shared that she will suggest to her husband to adopt the modules on diversified farming.

According to Global Agriculture, women are of vital importance in rearing poultry and small livestock; and growing food crops. They are responsible for some 60% to 80% of food production in developing countries. In many farming communities, women are the main custodians of knowledge on crop varieties.

The woman-attendees will play a crucial role in what Legazpi City Mayor Noel E. Rosal considers as “the start of an alternative source of income.”

The skills of these women will fuel the success of this program in four to five years. They will be part of the soon revenue-generating project of the city with an expected monthly income of more than a million pesos.

Indeed, these women will no longer be behind but in the frontline in building a climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture in Legazpi City. (jaysonmgonzales)