Community supported AGRICULTURE (CSA)
Many of us source our rice from local rice dealers who claim to support local rice farmers. The rice we eat is produced by people we do not even know.
What if you can buy your family's monthly rice requirements DIRECTLY from Filipino rice growers while at the same time support their journey to sustainable agriculture?
This is what community-supported sustainable rice farming is all about. At Farmvocacy, what we do is work with the local farming communities to introduce, through setting up techno-demo farms, a high-yielding, climate-smart, environment-friendly, and sustainable way of growing rice. We then connect them to individual families like yours, so that farmers and consumers can work hand-in-hand to protect each other and the environment.
The Problem
For many decades, the Filipino rice farmer has lived knowing two familiar cycles: the first is of planting and harvest; the other, a cycle of poverty.
While the first is necessary for his living, we, at Farmvocacy, believe the other is not.
However, current farming systems continuously conspire to keep the farmer entrenched in a cycle of poverty. Among them:
• High interest rates for farming loans (up to 5%-8% per month; usually through “loan sharks”)
• Low yield on harvest time due to outdated farming practices
• Opportunistic traders who buy the yield below market value
• Influx of imported rice from neighboring Asian countries
• No access to markets where they can sell their produce for profit
The Solution
With the farmer already living on an average daily wage of just $0.50, we, at Farmvocacy, would like to step up to the plate on the farmer’s behalf; and we invite you to join us.
Our intent is to uplift the lives of farmers by improving their means of living. We will make this possible by increasing farmers' yield using the latest technology in sustainable rice farming. Furthermore, we will make this agricultural reboot sustainable by involving the community.
This model of Community-Supported Sustainable Rice Farming – counts you, rice consumers, and other concerned individuals – to directly participate in the FUNDING and PURCHASE of the farmers’ produce through a system of subscription. This guarantees that farmers are fairly funded and their produce is bought at a fair price.
In exchange, the community is assured of sustainably-grown, traceable, high-quality rice.
By implementing a fairer farming system, Farmvocacy will offer farmers:
• Provision of sustainable, certified-organic farm inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides) that increase yield by 10-50%
• Training on climate-smart, high-yielding, environment friendly, and sustainable farming system
• Buying of produce higher than what rice paddy (palay) traders are offering during harvest season.
• Connection to a wider market of consumers through on-ground and online
platforms
Call to Action
Our target is to connect 20 families to one grower partner. We have a community of rice growers in Mindoro Island waiting to grow your family's favorite rice variety.
Help us better the lives of more Filipino smallholder rice farmers by starting your rice subscription today!. Finally, please share our campaign to your friends and family.
Thank you for your support!