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Introduction Thesis On Aging Farmers

The document discusses the aging farmer population and declining youth interest in agriculture in the Davao Region of the Philippines. Agriculture makes up a large portion of the economy and workforce but farmers are aging with an average age of 57, which could lead to a critical shortage in 15 years. Many youth do not want to follow in their parents' footsteps in farming due to the hard work and poverty involved. The study aims to identify which agricultural sectors have the most aging farmers and lowest youth participation as well as factors influencing youth interest in order to address the future sustainability of the agricultural workforce and food supply.

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94 views

Introduction Thesis On Aging Farmers

The document discusses the aging farmer population and declining youth interest in agriculture in the Davao Region of the Philippines. Agriculture makes up a large portion of the economy and workforce but farmers are aging with an average age of 57, which could lead to a critical shortage in 15 years. Many youth do not want to follow in their parents' footsteps in farming due to the hard work and poverty involved. The study aims to identify which agricultural sectors have the most aging farmers and lowest youth participation as well as factors influencing youth interest in order to address the future sustainability of the agricultural workforce and food supply.

Uploaded by

kleint berdos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Aging Farmers And Disinterest Youth In Davao Region

Agriculture plays a significant role in the economy of the Philippines. Approximately


40% of Filipino jobs contribute an average of 20% to the Gross Domestic Product. This
contribution comes mainly from agribusiness, which, in effect, accounts for about 70% of
total agricultural output (CIDA-LGSP, 2003).

Despite of high contribution to the Philippine economy, farmers in agricultural


sector face a challenge. Agriculture has to face up to the fact that farmers are ageing and
declining of interest of youth in farming. With this, food security is at risk that may lead
into food crisis in the future.

An article published in February 2013 cited an agricultural department official as


saying that, with an average age of 57 years and an average life span of 70 years, the
Philippines may experience a "Critical" shortage of farmers in 15 years.

In addition, an article published in March 2017 quoted the classic Filipino song,
"Magtanim ay' dI biro," gives a good answer as to why farmers ' children no longer want
to follow their parents ' footsteps. Parents themselves, who have endured decades of
backbreaking work and hardship, understandably want better lives for their children.

Based on Philippines Statistic report (PSA) of 2015, poverty incidence is highest


in the agricultural sector. So, for many farmers and their children, the way out of poverty
is out of farming and into other means of livelihood, like working in the industrial sector or
in the business process outsourcing industry. With the growing urbanization in many parts
of the country and the revival of many industries like manufacturing, the Philippines is
gradually shifting from a mainly agricultural into an industrial economy. This serves as an
attractive magnet for the youth in the agricultural communities.

In Mindanao, The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector in the Davao region has
the largest number of workers in the 2016 Annual Survey of the Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA). Out of the total 186,610 employees in the region, 38,575 are from the
said sector. The figure, however, posted a 7.26 percent decrease from the previous year
of 41,608.

There are many factors that make the agriculture is not attractive to young and
educated workforce. The factors consist of push factors such as the increasing scarcity
of agricultural land, and pull factors such as more promising and higher income of working
in the non-agricultural sectors. Moreover, from cultural value system point of view, the
majority of youth consider that working in non-agricultural sectors is more prestigious.
Aging Farmers And Disinterest Youth In Davao Region

Rationale

Aging farmers and declining interest of young workers to work in the agricultural
sector so food supply is starting to look very uncertain. In the future, with the increasing
number of population, the burden to agriculture will be much more difficult, particularly in
fulfilling the increasing demand for food. Therefore, the role of the government in
promoting the increase of food production and productivity becomes very challenging. For
this reason, it is necessary to promote the interest of young people to become farmers of
the next generation. For that reason, the interest of young people to become the next
generation farmers must be fostered.

The Aging Farmers and Disinterest Youth Study in the Davao Region will seek to
help understand the aging of farmers that threatens the agricultural sector and without a
new generation to take over. Consequently, future’s sustainability food in agricultural
sector in the region is at risk.

Objectives of the Study

This study was conducted to mainly examine the Aging Farmers and Disinterest
Youth Study in the Davao Region. Specifically, this would seek;

1. To Identify which sector of agriculture has the highest phenomenon of aging


farmers and the participation of young workers;

2. To study the factors that influence young workers on working in the agricultural
sector.

METHODOLOGY

The paper utilizes secondary data, the secondary data is collected from
Department of Agriculture (DA) and Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) to identify which
sector of agriculture has the highest phenomenon of aging farmers and the participation
of young workers and factors that influence young workers on working in the agricultural
sector.

The factors that affect the youths on working in agriculture by using a regression
analysis. The dependent variable is dummy variable equal to 1 and 0, where the value of
1 is youth (aged 18-35) who are involved in agriculture, and the value of 0 is the youth
who are not involved in agriculture.
Aging Farmers And Disinterest Youth In Davao Region

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