The World Agriculture Watch (WAW) and the National Confederation of Family Farmers' Organizations from the Philippines, PAKISAMA of Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka, share common views and interest regarding the need to develop information systems to strengthen family farmers’ organizations (FOs). Indeed, information systems are a real asset for FOs since they allow to improve their  own knowledge on their members: beyond just identification and counting of the membership, they can also provide information on the nature and characteristics of family farms. This information is important to identify investment at farm level and the type of support services required by the different types of farms.

The formulation process is ongoing jointly with FAO Philippines and includes DA-Region 6, Social Protection team in FAO ESP Division and the current Undersecretary for the Ministry of Agriculture in the Philippines, Mr. Vicerra, in coordination with FAO Office in Manila. 

In December 2019, WAW team met with Mr. Vicerra in FAO HQ in Rome to present the pilot project proposal and listen to suggestions and feedback. He expressed the interest of the government in conducting an extensive study on family farmers at national level, and to integrate it with a social protection coverage analysis, and invited WAW to include actively both the national and the regional governments in the formulation of the project. 

Following this meeting, FAO Social Protection team also expressed its interest in the pilot considering the synergies existing with its work in the Philippines. They stressed the strategic importance of collecting data on social and economic aspects of family farmers and suggested a joint collaboration for the design of a questionnaire, which has to be coherent with already existing national databases (e.g., RSBSA, ARB and Listahanan). Moreover, interest for cooperation includes the policy formulation activity. 

In January 2020, the joint project proposal was shared with FAOPH to set the basis for cooperation and support. On 29th January, PAKISAMA partners met in Manila with USec. Vicerra, who renewed his support and provided feedback and suggestions.

(Photo credit by John Francis Lagman  PAKISAMA)