Farmers are businessmen too

The people who produce the food are the ones who remain poor.

This was one of the messages delivered during the opening of the World Food Day celebration at the Asian Development Bank (October 15-16, 2012). I think it was ADB Regional and Sustainable Development Department Deputy Director General Woochong Um who said it. Data presented by Humnath Bhandari in IRRI during the Global Rice Science Partnership Asia Review (GRiSP) showed that 51% of the Asian population works in producing the food and yet contribute only 8% of the gross domestic product. The segment of the population that works in the farms are also steadily getting older and females are increasingly taking over.

These points got me asking: Why do farmers remain poor? Are they selling their harvests short? Are agricultural research think tanks doing enough to get these farmers above the poverty line?

Thinking that farmers need to increase their income through high-yielding varieties only is far too simplistic, I learned. From what I understand about the law of supply and demand, the increased supply of food crops actually keeps the price down, not really helping farmers get more income out of the land. Prices really couldn't be raised so high to help farmers either, because most consumers won't buy produce that is too expensive. Moreover, inputs needed to maximize harvest (like water, fertilizer, and pesticides) are getting more expensive; these may actually make agriculture a non-profitable enterprise. 

Farmers, it seems, have been given a double-edged sword.

The solution to farmers' poverty has to be more holistic. They are not just food producers; farmers also have to be seen as entrepreneurs, as profit-oriented enterprises, according to Al Schmidley. They have to learn the ins and outs of food economics. As such, they need to learn how to create and to use business models for post-harvest processes. Through business modeling, farmers learn how to project profit, predict where the risks most likely will be, and attract the money needed to initially fund new post-harvest technologies... basically, Al Schmidley and his group are teaching farmers how to make their food-producing business profitable and sustainable.

Land preparation stage for a grain quality field experiment.
Kuya Jun and Kuya Roldan surveying the field.

Farmers as businessmen. This concept may change the way rice scientists view the rice farmer. As I see it, the high-tech aspect of agriculture is no longer the only bait to capture the next generation's attention. Hopefully, the young entrepreneurs can see farming as a business as well AND get interested in venturing in it.