We Filipinos will never be independent of Spain, or of the United States! Let us instead declare the independence of the Filipino farmer from the oppression of poverty – and start the revolution today!
I don’t care if the Philippines is celebrating those 122 years since the Katipunan’s Declaration of Philippine Independence from Spain. I don’t care if you have another date, and you have documentary proof. I know that there are no more countries independent of other countries for their existence. Modern civilization cannot be compartmentalized country to country anymore.
Instead, I’m interested in the declaration of the Filipino Farmer’s Independence Day from Poverty. (man & flag image from Fotosearch[1])
The poor farmer and his family members cannot be relied upon to lift themselves up from penury because they do not realize that what they are doing is wrong. Their increase in income must be sufficient for his family to rise level to level in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Up to Self-Actualization, from Esteem.
Up to Esteem, from Love/Belonging.
Up to Love/Belonging, from Safety.
Up to Safety, from Physiological.
I am thinking of strategically located State Colleges & Universities, SCUs, as the new locales for agricultural development, essentially housing the operational centers for knowledge, services, equipment, technologies, warehousing etc.
With a new knowledge bank, the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture, OpAPA, for all. OpAPA is to provide anyone all data and information needed at any time anywhere, digitally, in a language that high school students can understand.
Through the strategic SCUs will occur academe-industry-government-farmer quad collaborative enterprises that in each location will put up or will connect with a cooperative, which will ensure the following:
(1) One-source knowledge center.
The coop will put up and run a facility whereby science or knowledge is accessible to any visitor – or through cellphones anywhere anytime. This is the OpAPA.
(2) One-source management.
Instead of individual small-farmer initiatives, farmers should consolidate their lands for one common farming enterprise, with one farmer calling the shots for all. For economies of scale.
(3) One-source inputs.
Loans for production inputs become unnecessary as all inputs in farming are available at the coop.
(4) One-source service facilities.
The coop will acquire and maintain all equipment for farming, harvesting, processing, including warehousing and marketing. When prices are low, farmer harvests will be kept at the warehouse of the Farmers’ Service Center, to wait for better times.
(5) One-force marketing.
Farmers will rely on the coop for marketing, no longer on traders who visit the farms during harvest and offer to buy at the lowest possible prices.
Now then, when farmers need cash for household or any needs, the Farmers’ Service Center should be able to extend them friendly loans. There should not be farmers starving in-between harvests!
Now, we still have to work for all that. Are you a Businessman? Cooperative? College professor? Farmer leader? Journalist? Pastor? Priest? Student? Well-to-do farmer? Whoever.
Go find your heroism, and banner it for the sake of the emancipation of the poor farmers from poverty!@517
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