SOCIAL ISSUE

Economic Inequalities of Farmers in the Philippines 2019

Inequality in income among regions in the Philippines has widened, prompting the National Economic
and Development Authority (NEDA) to push for reforms. Especially to the Filipino farmers. The
government's economic team projected that rice prices would drop to as low as P27 per kilo due to the
rice tariffication law effectively liberalizing the market Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority
showed that regular milled rice retails at P38.4 per kilo, while well milled rice is priced at P43.5 per kilo,
as of the 2nd week of August. This is a significant drop from last year's prices, but still not low enough as
expected. Meanwhile, palay farm gate prices or the amount palay is sold to traders has drastically
dropped. On average, farmers sell palay for a little over P17 per kilo, much lower than P22 last year.
There is a lot of problems encountered by rice farmers were: high cost of inputs, low price of palay, lack
of capital, labor problem, lack of postharvest facilities, pest and diseases and irrigation system. Farmers
also lack capital and pests and diseases significantly affects production during wet season while irrigation
system is a significant factor for both seasons. Low palay price may imply that farmers who yields more
encounters a problem with unavailability of postharvest facilities and or lack of drying pavements, thus
forcing them to sell their produce fresh despite its low price. Some farmers in areas like Nueva Ecija say
that they sell palay for as low as P7 to P8 per kilo, even though their production cost is at P12 per kilo.

HOW IT SHOULD BE STUDIED

Farmers have been starving, farmers have been dying. Exteme economic inequality is corrosive to our
societies. It makes poverty reduction harder, hurts our economies, and drives conflict and violence.
Reversing this trend presents a significant challenge, but one where we’ve seen some progress. Below
we offer eight ways to move the world forward in reducing global inequality.In developing countries,
inadequate resourcing for health, education, sanitation, and investment in the poorest citizens drives
extreme inequality. Governments should establish and enforce a national living wage, and corporations
should also prioritize a living wage for their workers and with the suppliers, buyers, and others with
whom they do business. Low and unlivable wages are a result of worker disempowerment and
concentration of wealth at the top—hallmarks of unequal societies. As human beings with basic needs,
all workers should earn enough to support themselves and their families. Governments and corporations
should be responsible for protecting the right to a living wage, corporations should commit to
responsible behavior that respects the dignity of all workers.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

We can solve the problem b urging local government units to buy from local farmers. This will help
ensure a stable income for Filipino farmers, and receive a constant demand for their products with
reasonable prices. Dalisay noted that people can lobby to their local government units to buy from
Filipino farmers for P20 per kilo and sell these in their local markets for P40 per kilo. We can also buy
locally produced rice instead of imported rice.To help support rice farmers, people can also opt to buy
rice locally instead of getting imported brands or ask companies to buy produce from local farmers.