DAR hails farming families

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA—The Department of Agrarian Reform called attention Friday to the unsung heroes of rural communities: farming families responsible for feeding the Filipino people.

In a statement, Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Rosalina Bistoyong said family farming played a crucial role “in providing food security and protecting our natural resources.”

At the opening ceremony of the observance of the 2014 International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) on May 26, Bistoyong said the DAR and the Department of Agriculture were working together to recognize farming families for their efforts in providing much of the country’s food requirements.

Bistoyong added that the IYFF sought to empower farming families in the country “because family farming’s involvement in responding to the urgency of food security will be promoted not just in the Philippines but worldwide.”

IYFF was launched on Nov. 22, 2013 by the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization  in New York to highlight the importance of farming families in food security and in protecting the environment.

The IYFF aims to promote policies in favor of the sustainable development of agricultural systems based on farmer families, communal units, indigenous groups, cooperatives and fishing families.

It also seeks to strengthen the legitimacy of rural and farmers associations, and to increase awareness about the importance of supporting family farming as a sustainable and effective way of producing food worldwide.