Livelihood and Needs Assessment of Women Farmers in Ormoc-Kananga (OK) Mountain Ranges in the Eastern Visayas Region, Philippines

Abstract

Women are the backbone of development in rural and national economies. They play a vital and undeniable role in our lives which necessitates a proper assessment of their needs and current economic conditions. This project aims to assess the needs of women farmers in the Ormoc- Kananga (OK) mountain range and provide them with livelihood assistance to improve their standard of living. The city and municipal agriculturists of Ormoc and Kananga identified 13 barangays in the Ormoc-Kananga mountain ranges. All women farmers in the OK mountain range served as the population of the study. The sample size was drawn using Slovin’s formula. A total of 502 women farmers were interviewed – 284 respondents from Ormoc City and 218 respondents from Kananga. Seventy-seven percent of women respondents were married. All of them had high school level of education. Aside from farming, being a hired farm worker for other farms was their main occupation Seventy-eight percent of the farmers are actively participating in the farm decision-making. This implies that women farmers in the area played a role in planning and contribute in their farming operations. Seventy-two percent of the total annual earnings of the households (Php 44,446.60 or $ 844.01) were from farm sources. For a family of five, this income level is far below the national set poverty line. To augment the family income, the respondents yearn for alternative sources. They also want to maximize farm production in order to raise farm income. Thus, the following courses of action were suggested to help the women farmers at the OK mountain ranges: 1) training on simple farm record keeping and farm profitability assessment; and 2) livelihood and farm enterprise development based on the endowments available in the area.

Keywords

• women farmers
• socio-demographics
• livelihood
• farm information
• baseline study