Making a Living While Nurturing Mother Earth
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Lady farmer Cherrie Atilano advocates for sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
A teenage Cherrie sought agricultural conferences in Bacolod for training. At first, she was not allowed in for being too young and for lack of connection. “The conferences would start at nine, and I would be at the parking lot at eight, asking any of the attendees to take me with them. I would pose as their granddaughter who helps with their medicines or make their coffee,” Cherrie recalls, laughing.
She eventually became a familiar face to participating CEOs, officials, and heads of departments, all the while soaking in the language and tools of the industry. Recently, Department of Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo referred to Cherrie in his speech at one of these conferences, in awe that the 15-year-old “runner” in these conferences is now their colleague.
When Cherrie singlehandedly started AGREA eight years ago, she chose the island of Marinduque because it qualifies in her One-Island Economy Model. The land area and population are ideal, and there are only a few local leaders she must work with. Her strategy was very practical and non-controversial.
“Agriculture is political,” says Cherrie. “I am not a voter in Marinduque. I don’t want to give the impression that I have political ambitions on the island. I just want to help. It’s all tactical.”
‘A Crime Against Humanity’
Regenerative agriculture, a term from the 1980s used by advocates of holistic, climate-change-reversing farming practices, is part of Sustainable Development Goal 2, which is Zero Hunger. It also highlights the links between promoting gender equality and healthy lifestyles, and empowering small farmers. All these themes are woven into Cherrie’s work.
She remembers telling people she wanted to study agriculture and being told she was cut out for more impactful things. The valedictorian of her high school class, she set out to prove that agriculture is indeed impactful and the base of other industries.
“During the pandemic, some people said, ‘Uuwi nalang kami sa probinsya, may minana akong lupa (I’ll just go home to my province and work on the land I inherited). The COVID-19 pandemic made us want to go back to the countryside and do farm-to-table.”
“Philippine farming is composed mostly of smallholder farmers,” Cherrie explains. “If you see smallholding farmers, they work as a family. Agriculture is not only about food production, but also really income generation. It’s a crime against humanity that the producers of food in our food chain, the farmers and the fisherfolk, are the poorest, the hungriest, the most malnourished groups when they are the ones producing our food,” Cherrie laments.
Atilano teaching how to grow food online
“I’m a strong believer in compassion and empathy. If these two are in every action that we do, in every business that we do, then we see our businesses impacting a lot.”
By age of 23, Cherrie had traveled to 81 Philippine provinces, exposing her to the realities and situations of farmers. Her One-Island Economy Model was shaped by these travels, as well as her work as a consultant for previous secretaries of the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Agriculture. She also worked as a consultant for Gawad Kalinga in establishing another model venture, the Enchanted Farm in Bulacan. Cherrie has lived there for four years as the farm manager.
“The only way for us to progress is to decongest our cities and megacities,” Cherrie advises. “We must see that opportunity--the need to go back to the countryside and develop it and create opportunities that will make people stay. There are opportunities open for them to be employed, to stay, and to make a living.”
Guided by SDG 2, Cherrie champions three major goals in her venture: zero hunger, zero waste, and zero insufficiencies.
“The hunger that I refer to is not just that of the body—that is easy to solve. You can plant and cook your own food. The hunger of a human being to belong, the hunger to be dignified, and hunger to be respected—those are universal concerns.”
This was relevant and resonant during the pandemic and disasters when she saw how her partners—"not beneficiaries,” Cherrie emphasizes—dealt with challenges more efficiently as a result of their training and work with AGREA.
“Hindi mo kami makikitang magsusunog o magtatapon (You won’t find us burn or throw away excess),” Cherrie shares. “Everything is back to the soil. Surplus becomes jams, pickles, sauces, and if it gets reduced to an element we cannot further reuse, it goes to a compost site in Pasay.
When Cherrie singlehandedly started AGREA eight years ago, she chose the island of Marinduque because it qualifies in her One-Island Economy Model.
The Earth Is Gendered, and It’s Female
Cherrie, her colleagues, and community are bound by the organization’s name. “AGREA is really a fusion of two words: agriculture, agri; Mother Earth in Greek, Gaea.” Everything they do is modeled after sustainability.
“Our website can run on 2G,” Cherrie proudly shares.
“Globally, I think agriculture is the first domestication of humankind,” Cherrie says. “Women are said to be nurturing, and so it is entrusted to women. Agriculture deals with living things, so that kind of industry needs that nurture. But why then is agriculture run by mostly men?”
“I call it ‘gender-equal food systems’ because ‘agriculture’ is very limiting. Shared land titles, for example, are named by husbands,” Cherrie says, linking gender inequality with gender-based abuse. “Women do not want to leave their husbands even if they get beaten or raped by their spouse because the land title is in the husband’s name.”
Cherrie is proud that during the pandemic, many people went back to the nurture of Mother Earth, and she hopes we do the same for Her. During the lockdown, many people grew plants and succulents. The work, even in the face of adversity, does not change. AGREA was given a COVID-19 Action Award in the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards of UN Women in the Asia-Pacific.
“To revolutionize the agriculture sector is to really involve the young who have the nuance, curiosity, and advocacies in protecting our planet and respecting our planetary boundaries. They must have a sense of sustainability and resiliency. It's really the younger generation who will make this happen.”
Ian Layugan hails from Baguio City and is currently based in Gunma Prefecture, Japan where he works with the Kiryu City Board of Education under the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme. He has written for Rappler and has led research projects for Oxfam, Asmae International, and the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. Follow him on Instagram/Twitter at @ijlayugan.
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