“As long as Filipino families, particularly those in the rural areas, know how to plant and grow their own food, they will never go hungry, and have something saved, too” says experts at the 2019 KLMPE.

Experts at the 2019 edition of the annual “Knowledge Learning Market and Policy Engagement” (KLMPE) forum agree that Filipinos could weather the increasing cost of food in the market and save if they grow their own food.

“Simply put, learning how to plant and grow our own food is a good thing as we will never go hungry,” explains Venarica Papa, Assistant Professor of the College of Social Work and Community Development at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and one of the resource speakers at the event. 

The KLMPE forum was held from 13 to 14 November at the Bahay ng Alumni in UP Diliman in Quezon City with the theme “Celebrating the International Decade of Family Farming: Strengthening the Role of Youth in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development”.

The event also marked the official launch of the UN’s Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) in the country.
Representatives of family farming organizations, academic and research institutions, government agencies, CSOs, NGOs, and international development organizations attended the forum.

The conference also featured sharing of innovations and good practices in the sub-themes of agri-enterprise, agri-governance, asset reforms, climate resilience, and gender and age-sensitive family farming. Participants also discussed lessons learned and related policy issues and put forward recommendations for action.

Additionally, attendees validated and enriched the results of the preliminary consultations for the National Action Plan for the UNDFF, which was initiated through the multi-stakeholder Agriculture and Rural Development Knowledge and Policy Platform (ARDKPP).

Ms Tamara Duran, Assistant FAO Representative for Programme, highlighted the importance of the National Action Plan, saying “this is a roadmap that we believe will have a positive and lasting impact upon the country’s agriculture, fisheries, forestry, environment, and natural resources sectors, as well as efforts on disaster risk reduction, climate change mitigation, and peace and development.”

At the end of the forum, the farmer-participants appealed to the public to support them by buying local rice and urged the government to provide concrete solutions to the challenges they currently face, particularly in light of the recent liberalization of the rice market trade

In support of the UNDFF, the KLMPE is a venue for various stakeholders in agriculture and fisheries to share and discuss issues, success stories, good practices, initiatives, innovations, and policies and programs that promote family farming and inclusive rural transformation.

The KLMPE is managed by ARDKPP, which is composed of representatives from the DA, FAO, DAR, BFAR, IFAD, Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA), ASEAN Farmers’ Organisations’ Support Programme (AFOSP) - Medium Term Cooperation Programme Phase II (MTCP2), Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA), Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia (AsiaDHRRA), Trias, and We Effect.