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Essay / Crisis in the agricultural sector in the Philippines
According to the Biological Convention, the Philippines is one of the 18 most diverse countries in the world. Per unit area, we are home to a greater diversity of life than most countries. In fact, the Philippines ranks fifth in the number of plant species and is home to 5% of the world's flora. However, among the three economic sectors – services, industry and agriculture – it is our agricultural sector which is experiencing the most difficulties. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay It faces most challenges ranging from low to no return on investment, little government support and other affected sectors, climate change, corruption, and crushing debt. Farmers are essential to the survival and development of the agricultural sector, but they face an aggressive cycle of debt in which they are exploited by traders. According to Rachel de Villa, co-founder of Cropital, the first crowdfunding platform serving Filipino farmers, “farmers live in debt, paying high interest rates, sometimes 50% per month… Sometimes they have no other choice than to accept these kinds of conditions. which ends up eating into their income. They are also exploited by traders – you know, the middlemen who buy their products for a penny and resell them for $1 or P65 to get all the profits. » Additionally, the Philippines is one of the five worst-affected countries in the world, experiencing more than 20 typhoons each year. Too poor to invest in defenses against this phenomenon, typhoons can wipe out an entire crop field, driving them into both destitution and despair. As Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said: “Being a farmer is like being a priest; you take a vow of poverty and make a pact with the lord that no typhoon will destroy your crops. » As a result, farmers have to borrow money from traders and remain in debt. Unable to pay it, the debt only grows. Additionally, farmers feel the impact of corruption more than people with average incomes. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority released on June 30, 2017, among the nine basic sectors, farmers are one of the countries with the highest incidence of poverty with a record 34.3 percent and have consistently listed as one of the three sectors with the highest incidence of poverty in 2006, 2009 and 2012. The same month, Department of Agriculture leaders Constancio Maghanoy, Jr. (Regional Executive Director) as well that the heads of the Nominations and Awards Committee (BAC), Isagani Basco (president), Alma Mahinay (vice president), Alfredo Cayabyab, Rafael Mercado, Larry Pineda, Herna Palma, Rosalinda Mediano, Melani Provido, Isabelita Buduan, Lelisa Lascuña and Marie Ann Constantino were accused of bribery and corruption. There is also the famous problem of coconut farmers under former President Marcos. diet. Nearly 9.8 billion pesos were collected from coconut farmers between 1971 and 1983. Currently, all these cocoa levies are estimated at 93 billion pesos and coconut farmers did not receive the justice they should have had. Because of all these problems, children of farmers strive to create a better life for themselves, for their parents and for their grandparents before them, bringing the average age of Filipino farmers to between 57 and 59 years old. The government indirectly encourages this due to the increasing urbanization in the Philippines and the revival of.