Philippine farmer Myrna Conigo Asor was presented today with the FAO’s World Food Day Model Farmer Award for her achievements in organic farming and the training she provides for other farmers and agriculture students. Conigo Asor heads an association of 23 farming families in her municipality, most headed by women and all using organic methods. She grows some 50 varieties of organic rice.

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, who presided over the annual event, presented the FAO’s annual Asia-Pacific award to Conigo Asor and three other farmers from Bhutan, Thailand and Tonga. All received the awards for their outstanding achievements in agriculture and food production. For 35 years, Conigo Asor, from the district of Goa in the Philippines, was a typical tenant farmer. She worked hard to put food on the table and send her six children to school. But, Conigo Asor says, in those days she was always in debt. 

In 2002, members of a nongovernmental organization came to her small village of Digdigon in the foothills of Mount Isarog on the island of Luzon. They were promoting organic farming. Some of her neighbours were reluctant to take the risk of lower yields associated with organic farming. But, Conigo Asor saw it differently, she says, asking, “What if we had no debt?”

In the present system of farming, one that has evolved during the last century, farmers typically buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other items on credit from agro companies resulting in reliance on production of only one kind of crop. These farm-inputs are expensive and often leave farmers struggling or unable to repay their loans.

With help from an NGO, extension workers of a local government unit and technical staff from the Department of Agriculture, Conigo Asor learned how to make her own natural fertilizer, create a seed bank and apply integrated pest management. She abandoned mono-cropping in favour of crop diversity so she could become more self-sufficient.

“At first, it wasn’t easy. Initially, yields were low,” says Conigo Asor. But, she did not give up. Before long, her 5-hectare farm was producing a bounty of organic rice, vegetables and fruits. She also processes other farm products into pili pulp oil fermented juices. She also tends cattle, goats and fish. Conigo Asor was able to produce all this without borrowing a single Philippine peso. Today, she and her family are debt free.

“I am living proof that farming can be profitable and that poverty does not have to be a hindrance to success,’’ she adds proudly. Conigo Asor’s approach to farming has improved food security and nutrition for her family and her village. The soil on her farm is once again rich with nutrients and the trees she plants are a hedge against typhoons and climate change.

“She is a model for every farmer and the pride of our district,’’ says Goa Mayor Engineer Antero S. Lim.

The award ceremony is part of FAO’s Asia-Pacific 2013 observance of World Food Day, marking the 68th anniversary of the founding of FAO in Quebec City, Canada on 16 October 1945.

The theme for this year’s World Food Day is Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition. This reflects the FAO concept that healthy people depend on healthy food systems. A food system is composed of the environment, people, institutions and processes by which agricultural products are produced, processed and delivered to consumers. Every aspect of the food system affects the final availability and accessibility of diverse, nutritious food and the ability of consumers to choose healthy diets.

In addition to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, the World Food Day observance included a keynote address by Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, H.E. Yukol Limlamthong, other senior Thai government officials, Bangkok-based members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of UN agencies and civil society organizations also attended.   The observance included a welcome statement by Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, who said, “I am pleased to report that the latest FAO food insecurity figures show that the number of hungry people in the world is continuing to decline slowly; down this year from 868 million to 842 million. While this is good news, it still means one person in every eight is undernourished.”